Factors that contribute to the success of first-year students enrolled in an online summer remedial mathematics course at a large selective research university

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the factors that contribute to the success of students enrolled in an online summer remedial mathematics course at a large selective research university in the Northeast. As members of the university's African American, Latino/a, Asian, and Native American (AALANA) student population, these students were all participants in the Division of Diversity and Inclusion's Summer Experience Program at the university and enrolled in a remedial math course, MATH-101 College Algebra or MATH-111 Precalculus, during summer 2020. Using Albert Bandura's social learning theory and Victor Vroom's expectancy theory of motivation, this narrative research investigated the experiences of eight students. This dissertation highlights four main factors that contributed to students' success in their remedial mathematics course: the professors, the impact of peers, the desire to start college with a strong grade point average (GPA), and familiarity with online learning. This research can provide insight for administrators and faculty who are interested in developing and enhancing best practices for future implementations of remedial courses at their university. --Author's abstract