Targeted Infusion Project: Improving Minority STEM Majors' Mathematics Performance through Algebra Project Pedagogy and Cognitive Training

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The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Targeted Infusion Projects supports the development, implementation, and study of evidence-based innovative models and approaches for improving the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may pursue STEM graduate programs and/or careers. The project at Virginia State University (VSU) seeks to develop, implement and test the impact of a series of Algebra Project pedagogical techniques and content material in College Algebra and pre-Calculus courses, as well as cognitive training techniques that have been piloted in previous studies at VSU. The project aims to address the problem of the failure rate in College Algebra courses at the institution, which is at about 40%. Failing these courses prevents students from taking Calculus, which is the prerequisite mathematics sequence for students majoring in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The project is guided by an on-going evaluation.This project will assess the efficacy of implementing a conceptual architecture for college mathematics developed by the Algebra Project which is accessible to students at the level of College Algebra and pre-Calculus, and which has the potential to deepen and strengthenstudents' understanding of the course content and provide a solid conceptual and procedural foundation for the future study of Calculus. At the same time, the project will study the impact on cognitive training of working memory associated with STEM success. The research design for the project will be quasi-experimental, with three College Algebra and one pre-Calculus classes randomly assigned to the treatment condition, and four classes randomly assigned to the control condition. Dependent measures include course grades, standardized assessment of mathematics ability, attitudinal change, level of motivation and engagement, and semester grade point average. Initial data will be analyzed with a factorial multivariate analysis of covariance. The impact of the cognitive and psychosocial variables on mathematics performance will be analyzed using structural equation modeling. This is the first study of the impact of the Algebra Project pedagogy at the college level. Results from the study will be broadly disseminated to other institutions of higher education, particularly those that have students entering college, but not prepared to take Calculus.