Course Structure

Ruby Hull, math teacher, used MyMathLab in her Algebra I class to help her students improve their math skills and practice solving problems on the computer. She assigned four homework assignments for each unit, and students attended the math lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Work on MyMathLab contributed 10 percent to each student’s overall course grade.

Teacher Experience

MyMathLab streamlined Hull’s time and enabled her to work closely with those students who were having trouble. Meanwhile, those who were more comfortable with their skills and with the computer itself could use Ask the Instructor and the program’s other interactive teaching and learning resources. “Teaching is all about finding creative ways to motivate students to learn. And, although every student is different, they all responded to the program’s immediate feedback and 24/7 support.” Hull particularly appreciated the way that MyMathLab promoted self-paced, mastery learning. “The program fed my students problems specifically attuned to their individual skill levels,” she says. “It then ensured that they did not move ahead until they were comfortable with the concept at hand.”

Student Experience

Hull believes that using MyMathLab was good for her students. “Everything today—both in the classroom and beyond it—is more computerized,” says Hull. “Students need to know how to use computers, how to comfortably poke around them and problem solve on their own, and how to learn in this new way. My students got better the more they used MyMathLab.”

Student Gains

For those students who took the time to read the instructions and do the problems, MyMathLab helped them, and they did well. “Some now appreciate computers as a better tool than books,” says Hull. “When they had trouble, the program helped them work through it.”

Hull’s 2010–2011 EOC results indicate that MyMathLab had a positive impact on her students’ learning. Her students’ EOC exam pass rates improved 7.2 percentage points—from 63.6 percent in 2010 to 70.8 percent in 2011.