An Introduction to Support Courses

Generally, all students graduating from a 4-year college or university must successfully complete at least one quantitative literacy/mathematics/statistics course.  Many students find the content of these courses challenging which is reflected in the relatively high DFW rate in these courses as compared to introductory courses in other disciplines.  Universities have invested resources to provide tutoring labs to help students with these courses.  Another response is to provide an academic experience, in addition to the content course, with the specific intent of helping students successfully complete their math courses.

 Some of the goals of these “support experiences” are to:

• decrease DFW rates

• help students graduate on time

• provide students with mathematical experiences relevant to their path

• leave students with positive experiences and memories