Math Module Learning is a Success

Butler’s revolutionary approach to breaking up math classes into smaller units is helping students learn. By splitting semester-long classes into three modules within the 16-week timeframe, students are succeeding at a higher rate than before. These modules offer students face-to-face classes at the exact level of learning they need.

After one semester, the results are positive:

• 20% Increase in Student Success
• More than a 10% Decrease in Student Withdrawals
• More than 2/3 of Students Earn a C or Higher

“The repetition was removed, allowing more time to cover content,” said Shannon Covert, Associate Dean of STEM at Butler. “The five-week courses provide small victories for students and allow for more flexibility if something happens that prevents them from attending classes for a length of time.”

Beginning fall 2016, Butler Community College launched a plan to change the way students are placed in math classes and how they complete their math sequence. A student takes a math assessment test and enters the sequence where they need to start learning, from math fundamentals to College Algebra. The content is aligned to Kansas State Core Outcomes (KBOR) to ensure transferability of the College Algebra sequence.

“When I started at Butler, I was scared I wouldn’t learn math,” Hailie Harmon, a current student, said. “But after taking math module classes, math makes sense to me now.”

Butler’s new math lab, which is staffed by math instructors, is helping students succeed as well. The lab is equipped with “white-board tables” that instructors can write problems on to help students learn.

Butler continues to monitor student success rates. On March 8 and 9, Butler math representatives are presenting their success data and answering questions from instructors from Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Southern Illinois and Missouri during the Great Plains Conference on Acceleration to be held at Butler’s El Dorado campus. 

“Math modules are a lot easier than the whole semester class,” Mario Thomas, a current student, said. “This is one of the best renovations Butler has made.”