For the past three years, I have taught both a stand-alone college algebra course as well as a college algebra with support (our version of a co-requisite) course every semester. I have used the same course calendar and the same tests for both groups of students. Both classes are “flipped” and class time is filled with active learning. Both classes meet 3 days a week: the stand-alone class meetings are 50 minutes long, and the co-requisite class meetings are 100 minutes long.
I have discovered that the college-ready students are working harder and having more success than the students in the corequisite courses. Through the use of an electronic homework system, I can easily determine how much time each student has spent on the out-of-class assignments, and the results are frustrating. The amount of out-of-class work completed by the college-ready students far outweighs that of the corequisite students. Furthermore, the college-level students work much harder during class as well!
I have found, as I am sure many of us have, that when students do the work their success increases. I have been trying various strategies to motivate students to do the work. As corequisite students increase their time-on-task, their test scores increase as well. I have tried using frequent, open-note quizzes to encourage students to complete the homework and notes before class. I have offered extra credit for completing significant assignments such as a practice test. I have even allowed students to use a “cheat sheet” during the test if they have completed all the out-of-class assignments for the unit! Once in a while, students begin to realize that when they “do the math” they are not as bad at math as they thought they were.