Curriculum articulation and alignment and perceptions of preparedness for engineering and science students between high school and entry -level college mathematics

The exploratory study examined the articulation and alignment between high school math curricula and entry-level mathematics courses at the university level using engineering/science students as a test case. The first research question was what is the articulation and alignment between high school math curricula and university entry-level math courses. The study examined the match, overlap and gaps of major math concepts between high school and college entry-level courses, and whether the progression of high school math courses leads directly into college entry-level math courses for engineering/science students, who typically have a mathematics intensive high school program and a more identifiable pathway into entry-level university mathematics. The second major research question was what are perceptions of student preparedness for entry-level college math courses for engineering and science students. Three groups were surveyed for their perceptions: recently matriculated university engineering/science students, high school math teachers, and entry-level college math instructors/professors.;The student sample comprised engineering/science students from nine selected high schools, who entered PSU as freshmen, Fall of 2001, nine high schools that send large numbers of these students to Penn State, and instructors/professors who taught the entry-level mathematics courses to these students, Fall of 2001.;The Pennsylvania math standards provided a common language to identify the mastery and importance of main mathematical concepts for the participants. The nine high schools provided their curriculum guides, which listed the alignment, the course content, the prerequisites, and the sequence for the courses. There was a primary focus on calculus courses for any articulation with university entry-level math courses. Based on the study results, articulation and alignment of high school math classes with college entry-level math classes for engineering/science students are unclear. With the exception of algebra, the perceived articulation of the math courses between high school and college by students, high school teachers, and university instructors is vague and inconsistent. (The articulation of the use of graphing calculators could also be improved.) The PSU participating students and high school math teachers perceived an acceptable level of preparedness, but the PSU math instructors/professors perceived an unacceptable level of preparedness.