2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Mathematics is the common language across STEM fields. Thus, math proficiency can become a barrier for students entering college and those aspiring to earn STEM degrees. Given the importance of math preparation, postsecondary institutions typically vet the math skills of incoming students and assign those who score below a designated cut-point on a standardized exam to remediation. In the past decade, higher education has had to acknowledge that the current modes to deliver remediation coursework may be, at best, inconsequential and, at worst, actually detrimental to attainment. The importance of math preparation to earning a STEM degree heightens the need for effective remediation reform. In addition, placement in lower-level math can delay time to degree which creates additional financial burden and may result in departure from STEM degrees. Therefore, interventions that bridge the gap between high school preparation and STEM degrees within the first years of college are critical to retaining students in STEM specially underrepresented students who typically attend high schools where advanced math courses and more experienced teachers are sporadic. There is a need to devise innovative math remediation methods that are more engaging, effective, and less costly to students. In this National Science Foundation funded project, engineering and math faculty from a large R1 university, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and a community college in the Southwest, College of Southern Nevada (CSN) are collaborating to develop engaging methods to teach students the fundamentals of pre-calculus math. Because students typically mention that math is abstract and they cannot see its application, in this research, we developed two Canvas Applications focusing on electrical and computer engineering, “Thru the Wall” and “Break the Circuit” to help students learn elementary functions, such as linear and quadratic functions. The Canvas applications are animated and use placed-based and culturally-responsive pedagogy with the large metropolitan city and its surroundings as basis. This approach should let students view themselves as capable and confident members of the STEM community at UNLV and CSN. The effectiveness of these Canvas applications is being evaluated as supplemental exercises in the current co-requisite model used by UNLV and CSN for precalculus math.
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant #2225226.