The course in evaluation by the project is Math 811, Arithmetic Review.

Math 811 was created as a course in 1981 by College of San Mateo math faculty Mike Burke and Bill Rundberg. It operated as a variable units, self-paced course, with a mastery learning grading structure. To get each of the 3 units (a fourth unit could be earned as enrichment), students had to pass a set sequence of quizzes and tests. A student had to pass a quiz or test at the 90% level in order to be allowed to go on to the next quiz or test. Students could take quizzes and tests as many times as they needed. The students themselves determined when they took quizzes and tests. Students worked on the course material and took quizzes and tests during the one hour per week of class time with an instructor and also during two other hours per week in the Math Lab. The Math Lab offered help and tutoring. Most student contact was with the Math Lab staff.

In practice the attrition in the course was quite high. In a study of the course over the period Fall 1996 to Fall 1998, 30.6% of 926 students earned 2, 3, or 4 units, while 69.4% earned 0 or 1 unit.

Why was the attrition in the original course so high? We hypothesize that students need more structure in order to develop habits of studying and doing homework on a regular basis. Also, we hypothesize that greater contact with faculty and other students in the same place in the course should contribute to greater student success.

The course was redesigned by College of San Mateo math faculty Rob Komas and Jay Lehmann. The redesigned course was implemented in the Spring of 1999. The old version of the course now is taught only in a single evening section during the academic year and during the Summer.

The new version of the course consists of a sequence of three modules. The content of the course is parceled out among the three modules. Students must take the modules in sequence and must pass one module in order to pass on to the next module.

The modules are taught as regular classes and are not self-paced. The instructor presents material and examples, students work in groups to solve exercises during class, and there is regular homework and quizzes. All students in a module are at the same place in the course at any given time.

Students must qualify for permission to take a module exam by scoring at a certain level on homework and quizzes. The purpose of this is to increase the incentive for students to study and do their homework on a regular basis.

The way class time is organized depends to a degree on the instructor of the module, but it is common for the instructor to ask students to work on exercises in class in groups. During this time the instructor and a teaching assistant (a CSM student) can circulate, answer questions, and give instruction on the spot as needed.

All modules have a teaching assistant, who works closely with the instructor. The teaching assistant works with students during class time, may grade some homework and quizzes and some of the module exam, and may even teach a guest lesson. For two semesters the teaching assistants attended a training seminar. However, getting the teaching assistants together at a common time turned out to be an intractable problem, and the training seminar was dropped.