Secondary School Calculus: Preparation or Pitfall in the Study of College Calculus?

1992 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-71
Author(s):  
Joan Ferrini-Mundy ◽  
Marie Gaudard

This study investigated the effects of various levels of secondary school calculus experience on performance in first-year college calculus, with focus on student performance on conceptual and procedural exam items. Analysis of covariance, with mathematics SAT score as a covariate, was employed to explore differences among four groups of students. Students who had a year of secondary school calculus, advanced placement or otherwise, differed significantly in performance from students who had either no calculus or a brief introduction to calculus prior to college. A brief secondary school introduction to calculus, in comparison with no secondary school calculus, provided an initial advantage in the college course. This slight advantage reappeared on the final exam and on the procedural subscale of the final exam. Students who had studied a full year of secondary school calculus performed significantly better than other groups throughout the first-semester course. The advantage was revealed more strongly in procedural than in conceptual items. There were no significant differences among the four groups of students on outcome measures in the second-semester course. Students with more secondary school calculus background were more likely to continue into the second semester of college calculus.

2021 ◽  
pp. 251512742110292
Author(s):  
Darby R. Riley ◽  
Hayley M. Shuster ◽  
Courtney A. LeMasney ◽  
Carla E. Silvestri ◽  
Kaitlin E. Mallouk

This study was conducted to examine how first-year engineering students conceptualize the Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) and how that conceptualization changes over the course of their first semester of college, using the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN)’s 3Cs as a starting point. Students enrolled in an introductory, multidisciplinary design course responded to biweekly reflection prompts on their educational experiences (either in high school or as a first-year college student) and related this experience to one of the 3Cs of EM: Curiosity, Connections, or Creating Value. Results indicate that students’ conceptualization of the 3Cs often align with definitions of EM from KEEN, as well as foundational works in the entrepreneurship field, and that their interpretation of each of the 3Cs does change during their first semester in college. For instance, students were less likely to write about curiosity and more likely to write about creating value at the end of the semester compared to the beginning.


1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda L. Johnson

Hoping to refresh my memory on how students might study for a first-year college course, I took introductory psychology. I found that certain study skills, such as identifying main ideas and using the SQ3R system, were of little benefit. Information from a single source, either the textbook or the lectures, was often insufficient for adequate comprehension. With only the vaguest understanding of important concepts, it was possible to perform well on multiple-choice tests. Based on my experience in this course, I offer some suggestions for helping students to learn introductory psychology.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Thibodeaux ◽  
Aaron Deutsch ◽  
Anastasia Kitsantas ◽  
Adam Winsler

How students manage their time is critical for academic performance and is an important component of self-regulated learning. The purpose of the present study was to examine relationships among first-year college students’ ( N = 589) time use, academic self-regulation, and target and actual grade point average (GPA) at three time points. Findings showed that students planned and spent less time on academics than socializing and work obligations in their first semester. Students generally planned to spend more time on academics in the second semester. Academic time use (planned and actual academic hours) related to higher self-regulated learning and target GPA in the first and second semester. Students who were farther away from their first-semester target lowered their second-semester target GPA instead of planning more time in academics. Students exceeding their target first-semester GPA planned to socialize more in the second semester. Orientation and transition programs that assist students may need to revisit time management and planning midway through the year to address potentially inadequate self-regulated learning in the first year of college.


1984 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 372-379
Author(s):  
James S. Braswell

The College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) offering in computer science is in its first year of operation. In the spring of 1983 the board (1984) published a course description to serve as a guide to those secondary schools that wish to offer AP Computer Science. This course description is also the basis of the first AP examination in computer science that is being administered in May 1984. A teacher's guide for AP Computer Science (College Board 1983) has also been prepared to assist secondary school teachers in planning and teaching the course.


Author(s):  
Nadia Singh

The flipped classroom is gaining prominence as an active learning pedagogy to engage a new generation of students. However, all courses do not lend themselves to a fully flipped design and instructors are often reluctant to flip lectures. In this study, I experimented with a “partial” flipped classroom design in a first-year undergraduate economics course. In this partial flipped format, traditional lectures were substituted with micro-lectures and the remaining class time was devoted to activities like quizzes, group work and student presentations. The full lectures were panopto recorded and put up on the e-learning site, Blackboard. This format enabled me to combine the benefits of a traditional lecture with a flipped classroom design. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the partial flipped classroom format, I compared the final exam scores of students in the partial flipped classroom with those in the control group, which followed a traditional lecture-based approach. The key results from the analysis revealed that students in the partial flipped classroom performed better in the final exams vis-à-vis students in the traditional classroom format. Furthermore, the partial flipped classroom format was associated with lower odds of students failing in the module. This format also resulted in better student engagement, more flexibility and enhanced student-tutor interaction within the classroom.


2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Jones ◽  
Erica Frydenberg

During the transition from secondary school to university many students experience stress associated with academic concerns and difficulties in coping with new academic and social demands. The present study investigated first year university students' level of academic stress across first semester and evaluated the coping strategies employed by students to deal with academic concerns. Students' level of academic stress was greater at the beginning of semester, during the transition period than at the end of semester, prior to the examination period. A positive relationship between academic stress and non-productive coping was also revealed. It was concluded that effective and timely assistance needs to be provided to students prior to, or during the transition period to make the commencement of university a positive experience.


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