MyLab Math for Algebra and Trigonometry positively impacts student success
Pearson | August 17, 2021 in Meaningful Outcomes
by Pearson
How MyLab Math contributes to student success
In Fall 2017, Pearson partnered with Steven Hair at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA to investigate whether MyLab Math™ with Algebra and Trigonometry, 2nd by Trigsted impacted student success in his College Algebra II course.
Researchers found that:
- Average scores for final grades, Revel assignments, and final papers were higher in the online course section than the face-to-face section.
- A higher percentage of students passed the course in the online section than in the face-to-face section.
- Results suggest students in the online section are more likely to use Revel ™ due to the format of the course.
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Why did Professor Steven Hair utilize MyLab Math?
While MyLab Math was already in use at Penn State when Hair began teaching around 2010, he continues its implementation because it allows him to achieve consistency across sections easily, it offers flexibility, and the content in MyLab aligns with the course textbook.
How was MyLab Math implemented?
Penn State’s College Algebra II course is offered in a hybrid format, combining two days of classroom lecture with one day in a computer lab. The course utilizes weekly homework in MyLab as well as quizzes, lab activities, two midterm examinations, and a comprehensive final exam. Students have unlimited attempts to earn the maximum number of points on each homework assignment before their due date on Tuesday of the week following the associated lecture. In addition, Hair uses the coordinator course feature in MyLab to create identical homework shells for each section of the course.
Another feature of MyLab that Hair uses for this course is the set of learning aids available in the homework assignments. He keeps all learning aids turned on in all of the homework assignments, including View an Example and Help Me Solve This. MyLab Math homework accounts for 15% of the final course grade.
Were students successful in the course?
Hair decided to adopt the current practice regimen of homework with unlimited attempts before
the due date, in hopes of finding balance while providing the necessary rigor to achieve success. To that end, the pass rate for the Fall 2017 cohort of College Algebra II was 79%,
The final course pass rate for students earning 85% or higher on MyLab homework was 52 percentage points higher than for those students who earned less than 85% on that assessment. Further, Students earning higher MyLab Math homework scores earned higher final course scores.
Did students like using MyLab Math?
In an anonymous, voluntary, end-of-semester survey in Fall 2017 to share their perspectives on the course and MyLab Math.
When asked how MyLab Math impacted their learning in the course, one student said:
“MyLab has helped me understand the concepts of problems and has showed me step by step on how to perform a problem and go about the right way of doing it. This helped me tremendously prepare for tests and quizzes especially by the amount of practice problems we were given.”
When asked what the benefits of using MyLab Math were, another student responded:
“It's very accessible. I loved being able to do my homework at any point, anywhere.”
Conclusion
Results show that students who performed better on homework earned higher final grades. Hair says, “MyLab has been the best [digital homework program] I’ve been able to find in terms of flexibility to do what I want it to do.”
Learn more about how MyLab Math with Algebra and Trigonometry, 2nd could benefit your course
