Abstract:
Former President Barack Obama (2009) set a goal to make the United States the top producer of higher education graduates in the world again by 2020. Researchers from the Community College Research Center reported that nearly 68% of two-year college students and 40% of four-year college students nationwide take at least one remedial course. According to Complete College America researchers, only 30% of college students successfully complete the developmental math sequences in which they enrolled. To increase student completion of gateway courses, the University System of Georgia implemented the Corequisite model across all institutions in the fall of 2015. The problem of this study was that there is little literature on which characteristics of the Corequisite math model that yield the highest success rates.
The theoretical framework of this sequential, explanatory mixed methods study was rooted in organizational development. Organizational development is any process that has potential to enhance knowledge, expertise, productivity, and other outcomes whether for personal or group gain, or the benefit of an organization, community, nation, or the world. Research questions that guided this study focused on USG administrator and instructor perceptions of which institutional practices and instructional practices were most responsible for academic success of students in Corequisite math courses.
Analysis of the data revealed no significant quantitative results; however, from the qualitative data, six major themes were found: (1) recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee, (2) passionate and dedicated faculty who care about learning-support students, (3) tutoring, (4) early alert systems, (5) study skills, and (6) a growth mindset.