The Effectiveness of the Co-Requisite Model in Preparing College Students for Math Courses

Some form of academic support for underprepared students at the post-secondary level has been around since the 17th century. This academic support has had several names such as tutoring, remediation and developmental education. With the growing need for academic support at the post-secondary level, universities are developing various ways to provide support to their students. The focus of this study was the Co-requisite Model, particularly within Murray State University’s mathematics courses. Following IRB approval, archival data from undergraduate students were collected over three semesters in College Algebra and one semester in Mathematical Concepts courses. The pass rates of students in co-requisite sections were compared to those students who took the developmental course first. Data from five follow-up courses of College Algebra were collected as well to determine any differences in pass rates between the two groups. The findings of this study show there was a significant (p \u3c .001) difference in pass rates between the students in the co-requisite section of College Algebra compared to students who took the developmental course first. There was insufficient data to determine any significant difference between students who took the co-requisite section of Mathematical Concepts and students who took the developmental course first. Only one follow-up College Algebra course had enough data to show any significance (p = .20). In the one follow-up course, there was no difference in pass rates between the two groups of students