Mathematics Stumbling Block Trips Many at University Door

Phyllis Miller, a student at California State University, Northridge, has discovered that her graduation problems are multiplying.

And subtracting. And adding. And dividing.

It is an academic handicap she shares with an estimated 25% of the country’s university students: a lack of aptitude for mathematics.

“My brain just squished it all out,” Miller said. She got by in elementary school and high school, she said, because “a calculator did the thinking for me.”

Now, however, Miller finds herself face-to-face with a cold fact. She cannot graduate until she has passed at least one mathematics course. To ease her fear of numbers, Miller is taking a remedial math course to bolster basic skills before she tackles the required semester units.

Miller is not alone. Across the country, a quarter of all university students are failing to meet the basic standards in mathematics, according to a report by the Washington-based Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology. Like Miller, these students must take remedial courses in the subject.

At CSUN, about 1,000 students every semester take remedial mathematics.

According to Phillip Emig, chairman of the CSUN mathematics department, students have to be able to pass a placement test known as the Entry Level Mathematics examination, which is pitched at about ninth-grade level, before they can enroll in any college-level required math class. Those who fail usually take remedial--also known as developmental--mathematics.

In 1985, 3,753 students took the Entry Level Mathematics test at CSUN. Fewer than half--1,801--passed.

Of the 1,952 who failed, some retook the test and passed. Most enrolled in remedial classes.

Eager to Finish Degree

Margaret Belgrade is one who failed. A senior at CSUN with almost all of the course work completed for a psychology degree, Belgrade is eager to graduate and move toward her chosen occupation as a play therapist.

But first she must take a statistics class. And before that, she must pass the Entry Level Mathematics test.

“I’m so afraid of the math, I can’t settle down,” Belgrade said of her recent failure. Desperate to pass, Belgrade said, she even went to the university counseling center to try to learn to control math test panic.

“It’s a hassle,” Belgrade said. “It’s not fair to tell someone they can’t graduate just because they cannot pass a test like this.”

But Belgrade is doing well in the developmental math program and is hoping to pass the test at the end of it.

Professor Elena Marchisotto, creator of the remedial mathematics courses at CSUN and coordinator of the developmental mathematics program, which administers the courses, said there are many causes for the students’ poor math skills. They are spread throughout the educational system, she said.

Causes of Deficiency

Among them:

Universities do not require enough secondary-school math as a condition of admission. Students who once knew math have forgotten most of it in a year or two without brushup classes.

Counselors often tell high school students that their first priority is to keep their grades high. That means avoiding hard classes like mathematics.

There is a severe shortage of good high school math teachers--a result of the high salaries and greater prestige for mathematicians in industry.

“But most emphatically, the students are not at fault,” Marchisotto said.

“They have come through the system believing they have done all that is required of them,” she said. “And then they find that more is demanded.

“I believe we have a commitment to them. We cannot just leave students stranded if they do not have the skills they need to succeed.”

Over the years, Marchisotto developed a remedial math program which has served as a model in California and beyond.

It is unusually flexible, giving students the choice of how much work they need to do to master the material.

Each stage in the course introduces a cluster of mathematical ideas in “modules.” Workbooks explain the ideas and let the student work on problems.

Workbooks Critical

The workbooks, written by Marchisotto, are the heart of the course. But the student can also use audio tapes, videotapes and computer programs, which also were developed by Marchisotto. Tutors are on hand to help. There are weekly tests, corrected immediately to spot problem areas. And of course there is regular classroom teaching.

Remedial students don’t lack intelligence, Marchisotto said. What they lack is sufficient training in mathematics. Or they have lost skills they once had.

Program evaluations say Marchisotto’s courses have worked well. Of the students who complete the course successfully, 95% go on to succeed in required college-level mathematics classes. Dropout rates in the remedial classes, ranging from 8% to 12%, are low for remedial work.

Andre Hart, 21, is a remedial math success story.

Two years ago, when Hart enrolled in remedial mathematics, he was a freshman with little idea of what he wanted to do in his school career or afterwards. His mathematics skills were nonexistent.

“Everyone in high school said math was yuk,” said Hart, “There seemed to be no point in it. But then I did this remedial math course, and I thought, ‘Hey, this is interesting.’ ”

Now, Hart has a B-plus grade point average. He is a pre-med student taking a minor in mathematics. He has three semesters of calculus under his belt.

Hart also tutors at CSUN--remedial mathematics.