A Comparative Study of Student Math Skills: Perceptions, Validation, and Recommendations

Abstract

A study was conducted at a southern university in sophomore level production classes to assess skills such as the order of arithmetic operations, decimal and percent conversion, solving of algebraic expressions, and evaluation of formulas. The study was replicated using business statistics and quantitative analysis classes at a southeastern university. The intent of the study was to determine math deficiencies among college students and to ascertain whether or not these deficiencies impact grades. Data analyses compared students' test results and grades from the different classes at the two universities and identified surprising patterns across classes, universities, and professors.These results support the need for curriculum modifications to address the identified deficiencies.

Examining Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes toward Business Statistics in the United States and China

“…According to PISA surveys, 15‐year‐old students in the United States have had consistently lower performance in mathematics than their peers in China (Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development, ). Jones, Price, and Randall () documented major deficiencies in basic math skills among undergraduate business statistics, quantitative analysis, and production classes in two U.S. universities. Thus, weakness in mathematics likely explains why U.S. students have a more negative attitude toward the statistics discipline.…”

Health literacy and digital media use: Assessing the Health Literacy Skills Instrument – Short Form and its correlates among African American college students

“…In health literacy research, African American college students, although more likely than their white counterparts to be affected by health disparities, are generally an under-investigated group. 13 – 15 Moreover, college students mostly do not possess the necessary quantitative skills to deal with medical information 16 and thus possibly lack a desired level of health literacy. At the same time, college-aged individuals, more than any other group, have relatively greater access to resources necessary to increase health literacy.…”

Different Cultures, Different Students, Same Test: Comparing Math Skills of Hungarian and American College Students

“…The difficulties students experienced with basic math skills were found to be consistent from classroom to classroom, campus to campus, in classes of different levels (sophomore versus junior versus senior), and with different prerequisites (Jones, Price, & Randall, 2011).…”

“…Faculty must recognize these deficiencies exist and be prepared to assist students to overcome these weaknesses. As the earlier article by Jones et al (2011) noted, a course was developed at one of the studied universities that could address the observed mathematical weaknesses; however, the proposal stalled at the college level. Based on the results presented here, the authors plan on reinitiating the approval process.…”