A recent study shows many college students lack basic skills necessary to complete common tasks, particularly math skills, a trend Ohio University follows.
A March 29 USA Today article reported the findings of a study conducted by the American Institutes for Research, an organization that studies behavioral and social sciences. The study showed that more than 50 percent of students at four-year schools lacked skills to perform complex literacy tasks such as understanding newspaper editorials, and surveyed students performed even worse on math skills.
This year at OU, more students than last year placed into DV1, the lowest level on the math placement test, indicating they must take an introductory course ' Math 101 ' even before beginning Tier I math requirements, said Monica Hilverding, a Math 101 and 120 instructor. Last Spring Quarter about 100 students placed into Math 101, while this quarter at least 150 students are taking Math 101, she said.
I have to say they do seem to be lacking some of the basic math skills
Hilverding said. At least the numbers seem to be indicating that.
Not only do OU students increasingly lack basic math skills taught in high school, but writing and study learning strategies fall below standards, said Char Rae, former director of the UC 115 freshman orientation class.
Students in Rae's Fall Quarter UC 115 class said in high school they would achieve high grades in high school but didn't really need to apply themselves, she said, adding that many students enter college not understanding that it is important to do the work.
In addition to the UC 115 courses, which teach freshman writing and time-management skills and discipline, an experimental period for a course called Becoming a Critical Thinker started this year, Rae said. If approved by University Curriculum Council, it might take the place of UC 115 as a freshman orientation class, she said.
OU's Math Department and Academic Advancement Center are working on a Math Success Project to help prepare students for math placement exams OU freshmen must take. The center, in Alden Library, also offers tutoring services such as a new pilot program called Math Readiness and Learning Strategies, a one-on-one group that reviews skills so students can start on Tier I courses, Hilverding said.
Basically we are trying to inform incoming freshman on the placement test and encourage them to review their math skills to tell how important it is she said.
Ohio standardized tests for high school students might focus too much on the test and less on the practical skills, Hilverding said.
I'm wondering if we're teaching too much to the tests and not giving them the basic skills and logical thinking that they need all across the board
she said.
One reason many students enter college unprepared might be the obligation implied by today's society to attend college, Rae said. In the past, the majority of high school graduates went straight to the work force, but now students are feeling compelled to go to college because jobs place a high emphasis on college degrees, she said.
Incoming students should make the decision to attend college early and take advanced classes to avoid struggling with college-level material, Rae said.
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Natalie Farinacci
