The Effects of Specialized Section Groupings on Success Rates in a Freshman Problem Solving Course

Abstract

The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) created a first year engineering course using the Student Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-Up) method in order to reinforce the student's ability to solve engineering related problems. This class is called Engineering Problem Solving and teaches proper problem solving methodology and programming in an active and collaborative environment, shown to benefit the even the most diverse student groups. Since its inception, however, students placed into Pre-Calculus, instead of being Calculus ready, have suffered from higher failure rates than any other student grouping. While strategies such as Supplemental Instruction (SI) have been shown to improve student performance in this group, other strategies have been implemented for Fall 2019. Specifically, UTA has attempted to separate the Pre-Calculus students into their own sections while allowing other sections to be for students who are Calculus ready. This separation allows UTA to customize the in class activities and messaging to more fully engage both of these student groups. This paper will assess the effectiveness of this experiment by comparing student success rates, defined as receiving an A, B, or C in the course. Further, this paper will compare student groups between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, broken down by Calculus ready, Pre-Calculus students in non-specialized sections as a control group, and Pre-Calculus students in these specialized sections. This paper will show that this separation favorably affects the student success rates, for both the Pre-Calculus students as well as the Calculus I or above students.