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by Dr. Mohammad H. Omar Department of Mathematical Sciences

The Effects of Promotion Exams in Preparatory Year Program. on Students Performance in First Calculus Course at University. by Dr. Mohammad H. Omar Department of Mathematical Sciences King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals July 1, 2006 2.00pm

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by Dr. Mohammad H. Omar Department of Mathematical Sciences

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  1. The Effects of Promotion Exams in Preparatory Year Program on Students Performance in First Calculus Course at University by Dr. Mohammad H. OmarDepartment of Mathematical Sciences King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals July 1, 2006 2.00pm Presented at 3rd International Conference of the Teaching of Mathematics (ICTM), Wagner Room, Marmara Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey.

  2. Brief overview of Talk • Cited Strengths and Weaknesses of Educational Promotion • Promotion Exams defined • KFUPM preparatory year program • The Study • Research Design • Analyses Design • Analyses Results • Conclusion & Limitations

  3. Cited Strengths and Weaknesses of Educational Promotion Advantage Disadvantage

  4. Promotion Examaccording to the KFUPM Undergraduate Bulletin (2003, p. 27) Definition: Promotion Exams "are examinations held at the University for students who achieve outstanding results in the admission exam or at the end of their first preparatory year semester, for exemption from the preparatory year courses” students can also be promoted for English courses by havingacceptable good points in TOEFL

  5. KFUPM preparatory year program • King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals is • an English Medium Engineering & Science all male University • The preparatory year program • is a two-semester mandatory program prior to Formal University Enrolment for Saudi Arabian students • mainly consists of an intensive English language program and a review of some basic high school mathematics namely algebra and trigonometry • main purpose is to provide a smooth transition for native speaking arabic from arabic medium high school to english medium University • Is promotion beneficial for these beginning bilingual students?

  6. The Study • not much is known about the effects of promotion at the college level, • especially in preparatory programs that serve as an English language bridge to Arabic speaking student cohort. • This study is aimed at providing some insights in this direction. • The study investigates • the effect of the program, in general, and • promotion exams, in particular, to the student performance in first Calculus course at KFUPM.

  7. Research Design • The data for this study was collected longitudinally • from the Fall 2002 to the Fall 2004 • All students • who went through orientation program at KFUPM • and those who obtained exemption partially or fully by taking promotion tests • and progressed through Calculus I • comprised the data for this study • 2678 total number of students

  8. Analyses Design • Analyses variables • Academic Term (21,22,23,31,32,33,41) • How many Repeats (no repeat, one, twice, thrice) • Grades for Preparatory year courses • (ENGL 001, ENGL 002, MATH 001, MATH 002) • Promotion status for Preparatory year Courses (0=not promoted, 1=promoted) • Calculus I grades • Grading system for courses • Failing grades: WF (Withdraw-Fail), F (Fail), DN (Denial for excessive absence) • Passing grades: D, D+, C, C+, B, B+, A, A+ • Promoted grade: NP (No grade - Pass) • Ordinal Logistic Regression • Search for meaning of NP grade for • English 1 • English 2 • MATH 1 • MATH 2 • Search for best overall model for predicting calculus I grades

  9. Table 1. Number of Students promoted for each academic term

  10. Table 2. The likely numerical values of NP for different preparatory year English subjects

  11. Table 2 (cont.) The likely numerical values of NP for different preparatory year Math subjects

  12. Table 3. Effect of other variables in the study

  13. Table 4. Selection of the Best Model

  14. Table 5. The Best Model

  15. Table 5 cont. The Best Model

  16. Conclusion promotion exams have mainly statistically significant effects for all students On the practical bases (with percent concordant), promotion exams have the same effects for the larger group of students but more substantial effects for the few promoted students The most important effects appear to be the mathematics courses themselves followed by Semester and the English courses Promotion grade, NP, effectively function as equivalence of A+ in the mathematics courses MATH 001 and MATH 002, C+ in English 1 and B in English 2. Limitations Study only look at quantitative variables. If other variables such as qualitative variables are examined, a different result might be observed KFUPM is a male only university. The results may not hold for other universities with different make-up of the student body Conclusion and Limitations

  17. Thank You Thank You

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