MyLab Foundational Skills Efficacy Report..

Each additional learning objective mastered in MyLab Foundational Skills was associated with a 3% increase in the odds of passing the course.

Mastering 10 additional learning objectives was associated with an increase of 0.13 grade point.

Each additional homework attempt was associated with a 6% increase in the odds of passing the course.

Making 10 additional homework attempts was associated with an increase in student's final course grade of 0.11 grade point.

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Learn more about the research behind the findings

Will students get higher course grades after using MyLab Foundational Skills?
A study exploring use of MyLab Foundational Skills at a two-year college

We wanted to explore if use of MyLab Foundational Skills helps students achieve better course grades. We asked SRI International to work with Rio Salado College, where students were using MyLab Foundational Skills in a course between 2014 and 2015, to explore if use of the product and its performance in assignments would correlate with achievement on independently administered course exams.

To measure student usage and performance, SRI used the number of homework attempts and learning objectives mastered at Rio Salado College. That is, the number of attempts students made at a homework question and the number of learning objectives that students mastered successfully.

SRI found that after controlling for student-level background characteristics, the number of homework attempts and number of learning objectives mastered were significantly associated with course grades and completion.

However, attempting more learning objectives was negatively associated with both. This could be because students struggling in the course tend to make more attempts without actually mastering the objectives, and also tend to get lower course grades than do higher achieving students. The result does not necessarily suggest that making multiple attempts at learning objectives is detrimental to learning.

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In the context of this study, conducted at Rio Salado College, Pearson is able to make the following relational (correlational, not predictive) statements about the efficacy of MyLab Foundational Skills:

Each additional learning objective mastered was associated with a 3% increase in the odds of passing the course.

Each additional homework attempt was associated with a 6% increase in the odds of passing the course.

Each additional attempt at mastering a learning objective was associated with a reduction in a student’s odds of passing a course of 3%.

Making 10 additional homework attempts was associated with an increase in a student’s final course grade of 0.11 grade point.

Mastering 10 additional learning objectives was associated with an increase of 0.13 grade point.

Making 10 additional learning objective attempts was associated with a decrease in final course grade of 0.10 point.

But what if students were already high achievers?

All of our efficacy statements reflect a relationship between MyLab Foundational Skills and performance above and beyond students’ prior achievement. That means, for the whole sample of students, researchers took into account students’ pretest score on the ACCUPLACER Essay, and measured the contribution of MyLab Foundational Skills on top of that. 

Hear directly from our customers and students about how they are using MyLab Foundational Skills

Personal paths

MyLab Foundational Skills helped students in Hennepin Technical College’s summer enrichment program to close skill gaps in preparation for the coming academic year.

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“The personalized learning path...means that each student works just on their skill deficits...the gains from pre-test to post-test represent genuine strengthening of essential academic skills.”

— Lisa Roney, TRiO Educational Talent Search

College ready

Students in Laredo Community College’s summer boot camp used MyLab Foundational Skills (with customized content) to become college ready and  bypass developmental courses, saving time and tuition expense.

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“Our teachers are really savvy about the benefits of MyLab Foundational Skills; they know how to help students achieve maximal learning gains...by alternating direct instruction with students’ independent lab work.”

— Marissa Longoria, Laredo Community College, US

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