2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The introduction of mastery grading in Calculus I began in the fall of 2022 in our engineering school. We found that students in the mastery-graded course experienced reduced test anxiety, achieved higher letter grades through penalty-free reattempts, and felt more confident about their math ability [1][2]. In the fall of 2023, we extended the implementation to additional sections and introduced several modifications to the grading system. Three instructors taught five sections, with three of them using the mastery grading system. To provide a more robust measure of student performance, a common mandatory final exam was also incorporated. This paper discusses the evolution of the grading design and investigates the difference in grade distribution between students in mastery-graded and traditionally graded courses, shedding light on their implications. Additionally, the paper investigates how students from mastery-graded courses perform in a subsequent Calculus II course compared to their peers in traditionally graded courses, offering insights into the enduring effect of the grading method on student success. This study, which received approval from IRB, is currently ongoing, with data collection spanning the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024. The comparison of student performance will be based on their placement test scores and results from common exams. The examination of student performance will encompass both Calculus I in fall 2023 and the subsequent Calculus II course in spring 2024. The analysis of the collected data will take place following the conclusion of the fall semester.