A Flipped Corequisite Calculus Supplement Course That Reduces DFW Rates

This session presents a corequisite Calculus Supplement course targeted at struggling learners, with the goal of reducing DFW rates in Calculus I. The Calculus Supplement course was built to support and foster students’ cognitive, metacognitive, and affects elements of self-regulated learning. It is a flipped format, 50-minute, two-days per week, one-credit hour, pass/fail course designed to remind students of, and reinforce their thinking about, the Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and Trigonometry concepts that are essential to success in Calculus I. These concepts are sequenced to provide just-in-time support for the moment when they arise in the Calculus I curriculum. The instructor provides deliberate support to students’ metacognitive strategies and connects each day’s topic to its direct application to coinciding Calculus I content. Participants in this session will actively engage in one example of the learning cycle of this class. In addition, learning analytics data will be presented to confirm the efficacy of the Calculus Supplement model in reducing DFW rates in Calculus I, as well as qualitative data describing students’ attitudes and perceptions of mathematics before/after a semester in the Calculus Supplement course. Overall, results show that this model is significantly effective at lowering DFW rates, especially for first-generation college students and underrepresented minorities, and that students feel supported and nurtured through their Calculus I experience.