Creating and Sustaining a First-Year Course in Quantitative Reasoning

Abstract

In 2009, the Louisiana Board of Regents ceased to require that all undergraduate students receive credit for either a version of college algebra or calculus. By that time, many universities across the nation had well-established quantitative reasoning (QR) courses. Since the Department of Mathematics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette has been active in mathematics reform, it was natural for the department to expand first-year course offerings by creating a QR course. This chapter describes the development and implementation of this course, which was first offered in Spring 2013. It also gives details about continuing challenges and the resources created to support course instructors and students. Of particular concern was whether students in the QR course would progress through their mathematics courses at the same rate as students with similar background who take college algebra. Data collected on student progress suggest that this is the case. The chapter discusses campus reactions to the new course and closes with a brief reflection on how working to develop the QR course fit into the careers of the developers.