The worthiness and effectiveness of mathematics remedial courses: a case study

Abstract

This study presents a formative model that assesses the worthiness and effectiveness of remedial math courses at a private university in Lebanon. The mathematics remedial courses were evaluated along three strategic features; enrollment, retention, and student academic achievement. The formative model was empirically validated, and findings report that those who had higher than one remedial math course were more inclined not to enroll than enroll. The finding also suggest, those who had one remedial course had higher attrition than retention rates. Finally, achievement in remedial courses appeared to reflect parallel and similar results with the first regular mathematics courses and students’cumulative GPA. The results are significant to the extent that mathematics remedial courses maybe a hindrance to the strategic development of the university and they may be hinderance evidence to subsistent intellectual and academic development. This study is illuminative given few studies have emerged to understand non-regular programs in their universities. The formative model presented in this study could be generalizable to studying the effectiveness and worthiness of courses/programs in higher education.