Quantitative Literacy: Alternative Pathway for College Developmental Mathematics Students

Abstract

Low passing rates in developmental mathematics have been a serious concern for community colleges for many years. A course in Quantitative Literacy (QL) offers non-STEM students an alternative option to introductory algebra as a path to a degree. This paper describes the implementation and evolution of QL at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Students enrolled in the 17 sections of QL were compared to a matched sample of students from Elementary Algebra. The students enrolled in QL in the Spring of 2013 were 175% more likely to have passed a credit-bearing mathematics course one year later, indicating that QL represents a valuable alternative for non-STEM college students placed into algebra level remediation. Further, the implementation and preliminary results of a corequisite course combining QL with college level Quantitative Reasoning (QR) are presented.