On the way to better grades in mathematics at the College of Polytechnics in Jihlava

This study intends to determine whether the success rate and overall grades in basic mathematics at the College of Polytechnics in Jihlava improved. To achieve improvement, the school implemented several support measures in the past years and we therefore hereby present the assessment of the success rate development over the course of the three previous academic years. Due to the categorical nature of students’ success rate data, the analysis was carried out based on contingency tables and the Pearson’s chi-square test of independence. The data covering students’ grades were transferred to the ordinal scale and evaluated with the use of the corresponding parametric and non-parametric analysis of variance. The testing confirmed that in all study programmes there had been a significant success rate and average grade improvement during the first year after the implementation of measures. The following year brought certain deterioration, which however proved to be statistically insignificant. It is therefore safe to say that the steps taken in order to improve students’ grades in mathematics were efficient.