Internet-based alternatives for equitable preparation, access, and success in gateway courses

This study compared 2561 students who qualified for Principles of Chemistry and Biochemistry by passing Developmental Chemistry with 607 students who qualified by completing a commercial Internet-based ITS. Propensity-score techniques were used to control for biased selection and assignment. We found that spending approximately 30 h on $30 ITS was equally as effective as spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars of tuition three or five credit remedial course in in terms of final grades in Principles for the entire population as well as for under-represented minorities. This finding has implications for advising students and for designing and evaluating programs for underprepared students and under-represented minorities.
Source: The Internet and Higher Education - Category: Information Technology Source Type: research