Thomas R. Post

IDENTIFYING FRACTIONS ON NUMBER LINES

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Student and high-school characteristics related to completing a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) major in college

Background: The importance of increasing the number of US college students completing degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) has prompted calls for research to provide a better understanding of factors related to student participation in these majors, including the impact of a student’s high-school mathematics curriculum. Purpose: This study examines the relationship between various student and high-school characteristics and completion of a STEM major in college. Of specific interest is the influence of a student’s high-school mathematics curriculum on the completion of a STEM major in college. Sample: The sample consisted of approximately 3500 students from 229 high schools. Students were predominantly Caucasian (80%), with slightly more males than females (52% vs 48%). Design and method: A quasi-experimental design with archival data was used for students who enrolled in, and graduated from, a post-secondary institution in the upper Midwest. To be included in the sample, students needed to have completed at least three years of high-school mathematics. A generalized linear mixed model was used with students nested within high schools. The data were cross-sectional. Results: High-school predictors were not found to have a significant impact on the completion of a STEM major. Significant student-level predictors included ACT mathematics score, gender and high-school mathematics GPA. Conclusions: The results provide evidence that on average students are equally prepared for the rigorous mathematics coursework regardless of the high-school mathematics curriculum they completed.

Cognitive Restructuring Ability, Teacher Guidance, and Perceptual Distracter Tasks: An Aptitude-Treatment Interaction Study.

The aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) study reported here explored the relationship between cognitive restructuring ability, as measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), and treatments varying in amounts of teacher guidance. It specifically investigated how these two variables affected performance on rational number tasks involving perceptual distracters. Perceptual distracter problems evolved from the work of the Rational Number Project (Behr & Post, 1981). Such problems contain visualstimulus information inconsistent with the demands of the task that must

Preparation of Students Completing a Core-Plus or Commercially Developed High School Mathematics Curriculum for Intense College Mathematics Coursework

The purpose of this study was to examine the college mathematics achievement and course-taking of students at a large public research university who completed a commercially developed or standards-based (Core-Plus) high school mathematics curriculum, and who subsequently completed at least 2 college mathematics courses of difficulty level at or beyond precalculus mathematics. Mathematics course-taking and achievement data across 8 college semesters were analyzed for a sample of 1,588 students. Findings indicated that students (including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors) were equally prepared for intense college mathematics coursework regardless of which high school mathematics curriculum they completed. These findings inform high school mathematics curriculum adoption decisions for college-bound students, and college policies and practices for advising students enrolling in mathematics courses.

A Study of the Relationship Between the ACT College Mathematics Readiness Standard and College Mathematics Achievement

This study examined the relationship between the American College Testing (ACT) college mathematics readiness standard and college mathematics achievement using a sample of students who met or exceeded the minimum 3 years high school mathematics coursework recommended by ACT. According to ACT, a student who scores 22 or higher on the ACT mathematics test has a relatively high probability of earning a passing grade in his or her first college mathematics course. Data from 11,324 students who attended 1 of 27 four-year postsecondary institutions in the upper Midwest were used to study this relationship. Overall, there was evidence that meeting the mathematics readiness standard was related to college mathematics achievement for students who completed at least 3 years of high school mathematics. The results have important implications for school district staff advising college-intending students on mathematics course-taking, college admissions staff evaluating student readiness for college-level mathematics, and researchers studying college readiness.