“We want to be flexible,” he said. “We’ll make this program work for (students).”
Students were referred to the Summer Bridge program by how well they performed on standardized college entrance exams, either the ACT or SAT.
Students who scored below a 22 on the 36-point ACT or below a 520 on the 800-point math section of the SAT were automatically referred to the program by UNLV’s Academic Success Center, which offers a variety of supplemental instruction and tutoring sessions throughout the year to help undergraduate students succeed in college.
It’s important to note these remedial students were rightfully admitted to UNLV, said David Forgues, director of learning support at the Academic Success Center. They fulfilled all of the admissions requirements set forth by the university, earning passing grades and test scores, he said.
“We believe they are prepared for success,” Forgues said. “But everyone needs a little bit of help in math, whether it’s tutoring or supplemental instruction. We’re trying to frontload that (over the summer).”
Some students who find themselves in remedial math may not have taken a math course during their senior year of high school, forgetting key concepts, Forgues said.
Some students just have a mental block when it comes to learning math, he added. Perhaps the math curriculum in the K-12 system just isn’t rigorous enough, he surmised.
But most of all, American society condones students who fall behind in their math studies, Forgues argued.
“We have a societal problem where we allow kids to be bad at math,” he said. “We’d be horrified if someone couldn’t read. But we accept kids who can’t do math.
The trend isn’t new. For several years, about a third of the freshman class at UNLV has needed remedial courses in math, school officials said.
“We want to be part of the solution,” Forgues said. “We think this (Summer Bridge program) is the help our students need, and we’re pretty darn sure this is going to work.”
- Extron AV Switching, Streaming, and Control Systems Aid Higher Learning at Idaho’s First Medical School - June 1, 2021
- Extron XTP, Streaming, and Control Systems Empower Point Park University’s Varsity Esports Program - June 1, 2021
- Extron NAV Series Delivers AVoIP Throughout Allied Health Veterans Hall at UNC Wilmington - June 1, 2021