An Investigation of Student Habits in Mathematics Courses.

Abstract

The vast majority of students have difficulty in entry level mathematics courses. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students are not spending sufficient time in study, possibly because they have too many additional responsibilities which prevent them from spending this time. A survey of student habits was conducted for a cluster sampling of all entry level courses. Students were also asked to write a one-week diary listing times of study, work, and leisure activities. The diary results were compared to results of the survey, and found to correlate highly. It was found that students have tremendous leeway in their leisure activities, and do have sufficient time available to study mathematics. However, students are choosing not to spend the time. In addition, it was determined that regular collection and grading of homework is highly correlated with increased study time in mathematics. Introduction The phrase, Mathematics is learned through the point of a pencil reflects the fact that learning mathematics requires time. Some students may understand more quickly than others, but almost all need practice time to reach a satisfactory proficiency level. How much time outside class should be expected of a typical student in an introductory college mathematics course? How much time do students believe they should study? How much time do they actually study? Teachers often complain that their students do not put sufficient time into studying, but little current research on student study habits is available. A literature search turned up very few papers, and nearly all of them (Cough [1979] and Pace [1980]); were almost 20 years old. A more recent one (Edwards, 1993) was discovered but it focused on precalculus and calculus which were limited primarily to engineering majors. We will report here on a recent investigation of student study habits at the University of Louisville in three introductory mathematics courses: intermediate algebra, college algebra, and precalculus. Our goal was to just gather information about student attitudes and behavior regarding study time, thus we do not take up important related questions about instructors' expectations or the correlation between study time and student grades. Intermediate Algebra carries university credit but no general education credit. Therefore, students who place into the course must take one additional math course to fulfill the general education requirements. All students in the course have deficiencies in high school mathematical knowledge. Many have had to take two developmental mathematics courses prior to Intermediate Algebra. College Algebra satisfies the general education requirement. It is also required for all students who want to be admitted into the College of Business. In conjunction with a course in trigonometry it will also satisfy all the prerequisites for the calculus sequence. The combination of College Algebra and trigonometry represents; a slow path into calculus. Precalculus is the fast path into calculus. It is taken by students who are better prepared than those who place into Intermediate or College Algebra. Methods A cluster sampling procedure was used to survey students in Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, and Precalculus. Course instructors were randomly chosen and asked to survey all students in their classes. Precise, written instructions were provided to the instructors on how to administer the survey. The response rate was very high but was restricted to those students who attended class on the days the surveys were given. It can be assumed that students who did not attend would either have similar or lower results (even less study time) as those who attended. The numbers and sections of students sampled were as follows: Table 1 Cluster Sampling Number of Course Number of Course Sections Sampled Students Sampled Intermediate Algebra 5 67 College Algebra 7 120 Precalculus 3 52 Student Study Time The rule of thumb has always been that students should spend 2-3 hours outside of class studying for every hour they spend in class. …