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AVOIDING THE FALSE NEGATIVE: PLACING STUDENTS INTO MATHEMATICS COURSES ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITIES

HAGER, MARGARET J.

Abstract Details

2005, EdD, University of Cincinnati, Education : Curriculum and Instruction.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions that students and advisors/administrators had regarding the mathematics placement process at a two-year branch campus of a large urban, mid-western university. Participants in the study were 20 advisors/administrators and 15 students. Qualitative data were collected from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, placement test observations, and placement test documents. The student participants were students who had taken the Compass/ESL® computer-adaptive math placement test and successfully completed a college level math course at the institution, as well as students who had just recently taken the test. The advisors/administrators all had some level of involvement in the mathematics placement process at the institution. Therefore, this research offered a unique opportunity to focus on the current mathematics placement process. The results suggested that students want and need an opportunity to practice before they take the test. This may encourage them to take the test more seriously. Furthermore, the use of an entrepreneurial placement testing system should require that the recommendations made by them as to the procedures for administering the test be followed. Finally, the institution is interested in implementing mandatory placement in mathematics. This would include a well-defined mathematics placement appeal process for students who believe they are not correctly placed by the test, as well as the use of multiple measures to determine the placement of students in a mathematics course.
Dr. Linda Taylor (Advisor)
172 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • HAGER, M. J. (2005). AVOIDING THE FALSE NEGATIVE: PLACING STUDENTS INTO MATHEMATICS COURSES ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITIES [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1114531509

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • HAGER, MARGARET. AVOIDING THE FALSE NEGATIVE: PLACING STUDENTS INTO MATHEMATICS COURSES ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITIES. 2005. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1114531509.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • HAGER, MARGARET. "AVOIDING THE FALSE NEGATIVE: PLACING STUDENTS INTO MATHEMATICS COURSES ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITIES." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1114531509

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)