High school calculus and achievement in university engineering and applied science courses

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what relationships, if any, exist between high school calculus and achievement in first semester engineering/ applied science courses. Subjects were 145 first year students in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. These subjects were partitioned into three groups, representing different levels of calculus backgrounds for entering first year students. Three first semester courses in the university curriculum were considered: ‘Introductory Calculus,’ ‘Chemistry for Engineers,’ and ‘Computers in Engineering’. Achievement in each of these three courses was measured by the letter grade received. The findings of the study favoured those students with a year of high school calculus over those without that preparation in all three engineering/applied science courses under consideration. When certain other variables were taken into account, however, all differences in achievement disappeared.