Increasing undergraduate success: A randomized controlled trial of U-Pace instruction

Abstract

U-Pace instruction, comprised of concept mastery and amplified assistance, has shown promise in increasing undergraduate success. To evaluate the efficacy of U-Pace instruction for students at risk for college noncompletion and students not at risk and to determine whether concept mastery, amplified assistance, or both U-Pace components are responsible for the greater learning associated with U-Pace instruction, an experiment was conducted with four instructional conditions (U-Pace, concept mastery, amplified assistance, and face-to-face). At a public university, 914 undergraduates (576 at risk) participated. U-Pace instruction produced greater learning on a proctored cumulative assessment than the comparisons. Additionally, U-Pace instruction produced greater academic success in terms of final course grades than face-to-face instruction. The percentage of final grades of A or B did not differ for concept mastery, amplified assistance, and U-Pace students. No interaction between instructional condition and risk status was found for final course grades or learning. The efficacy of U-Pace instruction for both at-risk students and students not at risk was supported.