Engineering calculus bridge program success: Comparing variation results

The need for a diverse engineering workforce requires the recruitment and retention of university students from all ethnicities and both genders. Engineering calculus proficiency is critical to success in most engineering majors. The Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M University created a bridge program to support incoming freshmen by improving their mathematics understanding and skills. The prerequisite for enrolling in the first engineering calculus course was to answer correctly at least 22 of 33 questions on the Mathematics Placement Exam (MPE). In addition to the online practice problems, there was a synchronous online portion of 36 hours with a tutor. The goal of the Personalized Precalculus Program (PPP) was to improve a student's mathematics understanding and skills sufficiently to meet the cut score on the MPE, allowing him or her to enroll in the first engineering calculus course during the first semester. A requirement for enrolling in the first engineering course was successful completion or concurrent enrollment in the first engineering calculus course. The program has been successful in improving student scores on the Mathematics Placement Exam (MPE). Convincing students who were weak in mathematics to enroll and participate fully in the program has been an ongoing challenge. It was hypothesized that more students might participate fully if the duration of the bridge program were reduced. Therefore, after four years of providing the course over a 6-week period in the summer, a change in the format was implemented. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether participants in the 6-week program or the 3-week program improved MPE scores more and which group fared better in the first engineering calculus course.