Guiding students to success with corequisites

When Jake Powell made the decision to return to college, he thought math could be an issue for him. “When I came back, it had been several years since I had taken math,” Powell explains. 

He had served five years in the Marine Corps and worked for two and a half years in real estate and insurance before making the return. “I knew it [math] was going to be a point of contention because I didn’t remember a whole lot,” he says. “I actually was scared to even go back to college, which is why when I had left the Marine Corps, I was like, I’m going to find a career without going back to college because I was scared that I just wasn’t going to be able to get through it.”

But the things he feared never actually happened. At Lincoln Land Community College, he was enrolled in a math corequisite course, a support class taken along with his required 100-level mathematics course.

Individualized courses

In fall 2023, LLCC Mathematics and Computer Science made a move from a prerequisite model — of taking a developmental math course before the main college math course — to a corequisite model. The corequisite courses are designed to be taken during the same semester as the main math course to assist students in strengthening knowledge in specific, identified areas and providing them with the support they need to succeed. 

These corequisite courses make use of Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) educational software that was developed to assist students in mathematics and other subjects. Through an initial knowledge check at the start of the course, ALEKS helps identify core skills that students already have coming into the course, as well as where students could benefit from additional support and practice.

The course is individualized. “Previously, we would have the developmental math class, but students would be required to spend an entire semester there, when they may only need help with one or two particular objectives,” says Peter N. Embalabala, professor of mathematics. “Through an individual approach, they are not having to relearn all the objectives, just the ones they need.”

ALEKS is organized into 15 sections, represented as slices of a pie chart. When a student reaches the benchmark goal for each section, the “slice of the pie” is filled in. This gives students a visual guide to how they are progressing through the course. And if they come in with a solid foundation in certain topics? Those slices are filled in from the start.

"It [ALEKS] locates areas where weaknesses are. It quickly designs a course for those specific areas,” Professor Embalabala says. “The course is designed to put you on a path to succeed.”

Resource for knowledge

Along with building out a student’s knowledge base, the corequisite course is designed to synchronize with the matching 100-level mathematics course. “There’s a set group of material each week. We work to decide what would be an appropriate time during the semester to work on particular topics so that they match up with their credit bearing class,” says Kirk Yenerall, professor of mathematics. “The idea is to structure what they’re going to see from week to week to be close to the time that they’re doing it in the regular course.”

In the corequisite course, students can also bring in their work for their main math courses if they require additional help or if they are caught up on ALEKS. The instructors are a resource for assistance on these assignments and to help further the success of students.

Connected learning

Corequisite courses have a smaller class size of about eight to 10 students who are all enrolled in the same 100-level mathematics course. While the course is individualized, there is a community to be found in other students. Students can rely on and encourage each other to succeed.

“It was very open, a lot of conversations,” Powell explains. “I could wave down somebody to come help me if I needed it.”

Confidence booster

Working through his corequisite math course, Powell gained confidence in his mathematics skills. “The course was aligned with the study material that we were going through in algebra at the same time,” he says. “I definitely wouldn’t be as steady or confident without this course.”

Embalabala recalls how Powell gained his confidence in mathematics through taking the corequisite course. “When Jake took the course and worked on everything, he said, ‘This is simpler than I’ve ever seen.’”

After his success with the corequisite course, Powell decided to switch his major to mathematics. This fall, he will transfer to a university to study actuarial science and plans to continue on to a master’s degree in quantum development.