| The purpose of this study was to find predictors of academic success, persistence, retention, and completion for students enrolled in community college developmental education mathematics courses utilizing an accelerated emporium model learning environment. Instructional practices have been shown to have a powerful impact on the desire and motivation of students to succeed in mathematics courses. The literature suggests that the body of research looking at innovative acceleration and completion options for developmental mathematics courses may be seen as broad and inconclusive, with numerous methodologies and research designs having been tried with varying levels of success. Data for this study included age, ethnicity, gender, financial aid status, enrolled course and grades of students who completed MAT 060, MAT 070, and MAT 080 during the spring 2011 semester. The length of employment and employment status for instructors was also obtained. The sample of convenience included 376 students who either enrolled in traditional- or emporium-format sections of the courses listed above. The researcher utilized logistic regression to answer all of the research questions. Key findings of the study indicated that predictors such as course format, financial aid status, and age accounted for 10--21% of the variance in specific criterion variables. These findings point to a realization that the process of getting underprepared community college mathematics students to perform at the college level may take an all-of-the-above strategy, with emporium model learning environments as just one item in a large portfolio of active interventions. In addition to a detailed presentation of the results, this study also discusses recommendations for policy and practice, as well as suggested avenues for future research. |
