Work in progress: Understanding how action modes® can help or hinder students in self-paced courses

Abstract

Nationwide, a surge in students who are under-prepared for collegiate mathematics has left institutions struggling to meet the needs of these learners. Many schools have moved to online or hybrid instructional models for developmental mathematics. These models work very well for many students, but not at all for others. At Clemson University, all STEM majors who are not yet calculus ready take precalculus under a self-paced hybrid course model that includes an asynchronous online component using ALEKS® (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) and a face-to-face component with targeted direct instruction in small groups. The ALEKS® software allows students to master objectives at their own pace following an individualized learning path. One lens for understanding why some students struggle in hybrid courses is to observe how a student approaches a task. The Kolbe ATM Index measures an individual's conation, his/her method of operation when given the flexibility to choose how to approach a task. In the hybrid precalculus course at Clemson University, each student works independently on the self-paced component and can be assumed to follow his/her natural instincts for task completion. The objective of this study is to use a third-party assessment of conation to predict at the start of the semester which students will struggle in the hybrid model course and, ultimately, to offer recommendations on how to help these students complete such courses. This study focuses on the correlation between Kolbe ATM results and student performance in hybrid precalculus to determine if certain conative categories are particularly well-suited or poorly-suited to this course model. We report preliminary data from a Fall 2016 pilot study and discuss next steps to predict which students are "at risk" on the basis of Kolbe ATM results.