Improving Success and Retention of Liberal Arts Students in a Large Math Class

Abstract

The Mathematics for Liberal Arts course is designed for students outside of STEM fields who need to take a mathematics course for the general education requirement. Typically, students in this class are not math enthusiasts. In this study, I analyzed performance data of Liberal Arts students in the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 at University of Central Florida. Based on data reports and analytics, the course content was revised, and activity learning strategies were implemented in the Fall 2018. Furthermore, early alerts and encouragements were sent during or just after topics identified as difficult were taught. Class activities were tailored to improve students’ understanding. Homework, quizzes, and test scores were analyzed and compared with the two previous semesters. The results showed that the pedagogical methods implemented contributed to increase the overall passing rate and retention of students.