Math Academy
The Math Academy is a fast-track course for students
entering Grossmont at the Pre-Algebra level. Students
who successfully complete the Math Academy will be “up to speed”
and prepared to take Intermediate Algebra after only 1 semester
enabling them to move towards their educational goals.
The Math Academy consists of:
-
4 unit, 6-week, Math 88: Pre-Algebra (running week 1 to week 6)
-
5 unit, 10-week, Math 90: Elementary Algebra (running week 7 to week 16)
-
3 unit, additional elective or Personal Development
Counseling (PDC) course to round out a 12 unit schedule
-
Math 88 and Math 90 textbooks, ancillaries and calculators will be
provided for semester long library checkout for all students
in the Math Academy
-
Student success agreement will require students to meet with:
-
math instructor, one-on-one to discuss academic progress throughout the semester
-
math tutor/study group at the
Math Study Center
Analysis of success rates from summer sessions indicates that students are more successful
during the abbreviated summer 4 or 6 week sessions. Students enrolled in summer courses are
usually only taking one course at a time, allowing greater focus on the mathematics. By
compressing Math 88 and Math 90 into one semester and limiting students to take no more than
12 units, students are able to focus on their math classes.
The Math Department is committed to our student’s success and we are excited to offer you this
new program beginning Fall 2009 but space is limited so apply now. Fill out and submit
the
Math Academy Online Application.
If you have any further questions about the Math Academy, please contact us by e-mail at
Nemie.Capacia@gcccd.edu
or Jenny.VandenEynden@gcccd.edu
or by phone at (619) 644-7519 or (619) 644-7294.
Math Academy: The
Background
As part of the Basic
Skills Initiative, the mathematics department at Grossmont
College really wanted to tackle our dismal success rate in
Beginning Algebra.
We had noticed that our success rate during our summer sessions
was drastically better than the fall and spring semesters (43%
avg). We decided
that this was the case because typically during the summer a
student will only take one class, and thus focusing on that sole
class. The problem
with the regular semester is that many of our students are on
financial aid and must take a full load of 12 units.
Our beginning algebra class is 5 units, so they must take
an additional 7 units to round off their load.
We also believed that many of our students were lacking
the pre-algebra skills to be successful in beginning algebra,
but it is hard to get students to drop down.
Typically they will keep retaking beginning algebra over
and over. We needed
to think outside the box on those two issues.
So in the fall of 2009 we started the Math Academy, where
we offered a 6-week pre-algebra class followed by a 10 week
beginning algebra class.
This would give the students 9 units total, so they would
only need an additional 3 unit course for their load. We decided
to also offer some incentives for students who participated in
the program. We used
BSI funds to purchase the text books so that we made sure
students had their texts on the first day of class (another
problem in our math courses..rising costs of textbooks).
We also made students sign a contract that they would
only be taking 12 units and committed to getting support, if
needed. Overall the
program was a complete success, however small the numbers were.
We will be offering two sections of Math Academy next
Fall and Spring as a result.
Below are our success rates for our two
classes we ran in the fall and spring semesters.
|
|
Started
|
Success
|
%
|
|
Math 88 Fall
2009
|
29
|
23
|
79%
|
|
Math 90 Fall
2009
|
22
|
15
|
68%
|
|
Math 88 Spring
2010
|
40
|
33
|
83%
|
|
Math 90 Spring
2010
|
33
|
22
|
67%
|
| 
