Student Achievement in High Technology Programs--Community College vs. University Mathematical Preparation. AIR 1984 Annual Forum Paper.

Results of a study that compared the performance of students in high technology programs in engineering and computer science are presented, with emphasis on students' mathematical preparation. The study population involved 175 transfer students who completed their mathematical prerequisites at three community colleges and 188 students who completed their prerequisites at the university. The community college sample included all students who completed the two calculus prerequisites with a final grade of "D" or above and subsequently enrolled at the university in one of the high technology programs between 1979 and 1983. The university subpopulation was a stratified random sample of those students who completed the calculus prerequisites with a final grade of "D" or above and enrolled in the high technology programs during the same time period. The findings revealed that a substantially greater percentage of the students who completed the calculus sequence at the community college received grades of "C" or higher. Further, it was found that academic performance in those engineering and computer science courses that required calculus as a prerequisite was independent of the type of institution in which the calculus sequence was completed. (Author/SW)