Contextualizing Developmental Math Content into Introduction to Sociology in Community Colleges

Abstract

Across community colleges in the United States, most students place into a developmental math course that they never pass. This can leave them without the math skills necessary to make informed decisions in major areas of social life and the college credential required for participation in growing sectors of our economy. One strategy for improving community college students’ pass rate in developmental math courses is the contextualization of developmental math content into the fabric of other courses. This article reviews an effort to contextualize developmental math content (i.e., elementary algebra) into Introduction to Sociology at Kingsborough Community College and Queensborough Community College, both of the City University of New York, during the spring 2016 semester. Data from a pretest/posttest control-group design implemented across the two campuses reveals the significance of this strategy for some sociology students’ grasp of discrete mathematical skills and success in developmental math.

Corequisite Mathematics Remediation: Results Over Time and in Different Contexts

“…Often combining both the streamlining and alignment approaches, some colleges and states are instituting policies in which students assessed as needing remediation take college-level courses with extra academic support covering just the remedial mathematics needed for the college-level course (known as corequisite remediation or supplemental instruction; see, for example, Daugherty, Gomez, Carew, Mendoza-Graf, & Miller, 2018; Hern & Snell, 2014; Jenkins, Lahr, & Fink, 2017; Vandal, 2017). Corequisite remediation has been effectively used with college-level courses in chemistry, mathematics, reading, sociology, and writing (e.g., Parker, Traver, & Cornick, 2018; for an extensive list of publications of such examples see Logue, 2018). Adoption of corequisite remediation for mathematics has been slower than for reading/writing (Rutschow & Mayer, 2018).…”

Reimagining Community College Math Reform Amid COVID-19

“…Contextualization has shown to alleviate math anxiety or fear and improve motivation and self-efficacy (Wang et al, 2017; Wickersham & Nachman, 2023). In addition, students exposed to contextualization tend to have higher performance, persistence, and completion in comparison to students not enrolled in contextualized courses (Jenkins et al, 2009; Parker et al, 2018; Quarles & Davis, 2017; Skuratowicz et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2022; Yamada et al, 2018).…”

“…Understanding how instructional reform efforts such as math contextualization unfold across shifting circumstances and contexts during the pandemic is critical and timely. Notably, math contextualization has gained traction and demonstrated promise for resolving the longstanding challenges associated with math learning and success at community colleges (Parker et al, 2018; Wang et al, 2022). Yet, any instructional reform entails high levels of effort by faculty in terms of professional development, curriculum revision, and adjustments to instructional delivery (Borda et al, 2020; Wickersham & Wang, 2022).…”

The differential developmental trajectory for symbolic and situational mathematics abilities

“…At the same time, students who grow paying more attention to situational education also have higher mathematical achievement Bottge & Hasselbring, 1993). Several studies have indicated advantages of situational mathematics (e.g., Donovan & Fyfe, 2019;Rubel & McCloskey, 2021;Parker et al, 2018). For example, Using real-life data in statistics courses will stimulate students' interest (Wathen & Rhew, 2019); at the same time, schools around the world have increased the portion of mathematical curriculums that train students to apply learned knowledge into daily life (e.g., Cai, 2012;NCTM, 2000).…”