The ability to make appropriate decisions is a key to college success. Some college students appear to not make satisfactory academic progress, not because they lack ability or desire, but because they make academic decisions that seem to put them at risk. Assisting students to make appropriate academic decisions is a primary objective for…

In this article I discuss the factors that led me to implement study groups in the teaching of mathematics. An important influence in this decision began with an experimental study conducted with two College Algebra classes in which students were randomly assigned to treatment groups. While there was no statistical difference between the study…

To take math anxiety out of math instruction, teachers need to first know how to easily diagnose it in their students and second, how to analyze causes. Results of a recent study revealed that while students believed that their math anxiety was largely related to a lack of mathematical understanding, they often blamed their teachers for causing…

The success of a developmental reading course really should be measured several semesters later by how well the students have transferred their new strategies to their content courses. To help facilitate this transfer, a list of ten instructional strategies are presented that have been developed from the literature and classroom experience.…

This article is designed to present an overview of critical theory, research, and evaluation for the developmental mathematics educator. Students caught in the gap between high school mathematics preparation and entry-level college mathematics expectations--developmental mathematics education students--need to have their personal narratives told…

Although the WebQuest has been around for several years, it appears that not many educators are aware of it, or know how to use it. Thus, it is important to not only expose developmental educators to the use of this strategy, but also to help them realize how they can easily implement it into their curriculum. The use of a Webquest integrates…

Anyone who has ever taught developmental mathematics knows there is a problem in course placement. Some students test well and place clearly above their level, while other students place below their real capability because they either have been away from math for a number of years, or did not prepare for the assessment test. In either case, they…

Studies in education often report the differences between participants' and non-participants' test scores, course grades, retention, and other criteria. When participants' average performance is higher, it can be difficult to attribute the improvements to participation. Comparing participants and non-participants on other measures can strengthen…

Developmental programs exist throughout postsecondary education institutions. The CHANCE program at Northern Illinois University targets the needs of inner city students to support them in becoming successful college students. This study sought to understand the reasons that CHANCE students who had failed a required reading course returned to the…

From the assumption that matching a student's learning style with the learning method best suited for the student, it follows that developing courses that correlate learning method with learning style would be more successful for students. Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute (TVI) in New Mexico has attempted to provide students with more…

Using popular culture in my developmental writing course has prompted me to reconsider what it means to create successful developmental writing assignments. Having slipped into the questionable habit of assuming that removing complexity makes an assignment appropriate for developing writers, I pared down a fairly open-ended "media…

A review of the literature reveals that obstacles to the successful transfer of basic skills, knowledge, and thinking skills during classroom instructional time differ depending on which of three components of expertise is entailed: conceptual understanding, domain-specific basic skills, or domain-specific strategies. This article, accordingly,…

Every developmental education teacher would probably agree that motivation to complete assignments is one of the biggest obstacles to getting students to practice necessary skills. Short stories and other types of recreational reading might help motivate students, but they need to learn specific skills to help them cope with college textbook…

Students derive more benefits from attending developmental reading courses that are an integral part of the academic curricula (Maxwell, 1997). Colleges that pair their developmental reading courses with content courses achieve the objective of integrating the developmental courses into the academic curricula. This article describes the model and…

A standardized program of instruction usually demands common syllabi, texts, and tests. Since teaching under this type of program is seen as stimulus (or cause) and learning as response (or effect), much stress is placed on the effectiveness of the classroom teacher. This effectiveness is usually gauged by the technical skills of the instructor to…