Overall, the enhanced math sections have been very successful. The extra dedication and resources allocated to these sections produced many positive outcomes, such as improved performance, more students completing their math courses, and higher evaluations of the course instructors. Combining appropriate learning environments, dedicated teachers, and committed students brought about these successes; this combination yielded excellent results.
While the enhanced math sections have been successful, there are still some challenges for the future. First, there are questions as to why students do so well in these classes and how students could be prepared to do equally well without the extra support in subsequent classes. Second, there is a financial challenge, such that the cost of the enhanced sections does not currently allow the extension of this course design to all students. However, as it becomes clear what can be reproduced from the enhanced math sections into other math classes, the implications are that all students may benefit. So far, it is apparent that all students would benefit from instructors setting high expectations for all students, providing regular feedback and actively following up with students who under-perform, modeling good study habits, and regularly reminding students of available resources.
With support from NIH, Professor Gavosto develops and implements enhanced math classes in order to assist students with weak mathematical backgrounds, and she discovers that students in these classes excelled in this class structure above and beyond students in the traditional math courses, suggesting that all students might benefit from this type of instruction.
