Initial evaluation of the impact of math study groups on first-year student course success

Abstract

As part of an NSF-funded STEP project, first-year students in engineering and computer science were assigned to small study groups based upon their math course. The groups were facilitated by upper-level undergraduate students, and met weekly through the Fall and Spring semesters of the 2009-10 academic year. While attendance was strongly encouraged, attendance at the study group sessions was not required. In the Fall 2009 semester, study groups were organized around the Intermediate Algebra course, the College Algebra and Trigonometry courses, and the first Calculus course. In the Spring 2010 semester, study groups were added for higher-level Calculus courses. During the study groups, students would work on assigned homework problems as well as additional problems provided by the facilitators. The students worked together to solve the problems, with guidance and some tutoring provided by the facilitators. In the Fall 2009 semester, attendance in the study groups was approximately 30%. This dropped to 15% in the Spring 2010, which we attribute to students forming their own study groups as well as increased realization among the students that there was no obvious consequence for not attending the groups. Our initial observations of the impact of the study groups include the following: (1) there was a subset of students who were likely to succeed in the course without attending any study group; (2) for the remainder of the students, the students' grades were often higher based upon attending more study group sessions; and (3) the study groups for the College Algebra and Trigonometry courses had the largest impact on students' performance, particularly in the Fall 2009 semester. The results indicate that study groups can be a successful method for improving first-year student learning of math concepts. In turn, this should improve the retention and eventual graduation of the students. In this paper, the study groups are described in greater detail, and the results of the study groups' impact on student grades are presented. Based on what was learned in the 2009-10 year, some modifications to the study group organization were made to increase their impact. These changes are described in the paper as well. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education.