What Are the Coursework Patterns Most Associated with the Development of Quantitative Abilities of College Students with Low Math Skills?

This study analyzed data to identify courses which have been associated with improved mathematics and quantitative reasoning ability among students who enter college with high verbal skills but low math skills. The study used the Coursework Cluster Analytic Model (CCAM) to analyze the course sequences of students with high verbal and low math skills who showed varying degrees of improvement as demonstrated by nine item-types of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test. Student transcripts provided the course enrollment data. The transcripts and GRE scores of 5 successive samples of nearly 1,000 graduating seniors at a private comprehensive college provided the raw data for the analysis. Results indicated that taking different patterns of coursework does lead to different types and levels of development. Other findings suggested: (1) the development of general learned abilities did not have an exact one-to-one relationship with departmental categories and all quantitative reasoning development did not occur exclusively in mathematics classes; (2) the development of general learned abilities was not confined to the lower division; (3) there was little formal monitoring and description of the curriculum in terms of general learned abilities at the college-wide or university-wide level; and (4) coursework associated with gains among high ability students was not the same as that associated with gains among low ability students. Extensive tables and graphs detail the study's findings. Contains 11 references. (JB)