The Courses and Curricula Committee will meet Monday to decide the future of Math 1550 prerequisites.
The current system for placement in Math 1550 is based on any of four options.
The quantitative score on the SAT or the ACT math sections can decide placement. A student may also take the LSU Math Placement and Credit Tests to gain placement in 1550.
AP or CLEP exams are another way to determine placement, as well as departmental credit exams.
“Most students enrolling in Math 1550/1551 are placed according to their Math ACT subscore. The ACT exam contains very little trigonometry and as a result is not a good tool for placement,” Charles Delzell, department of mathematics associate chair for instruction, and George Cochran, former associate chair, wrote in their proposal for the prerequisite change.
Cochran and Delzell based their proposal on two other schools that already require this prerequisite – University of Illinois-Urbana and University of Texas-Austin.
The two chairs are proposing a third party company ALEKS – Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces – provide online testing for students.
The students would have to pass the test with at least a 60 percent for Math 1550 and a 75 percent for Math 1551.
The test is taken at home, costs $25 and can be repeated as many times as necessary to achieve an acceptable score. There is no repeat fee if the test is retaken within a six week period.
The ALEKS program also offers an online tutoring option at no additional charge for students who need to improve their scores.
If this proposal is approved, there will be a one-time programming expense covered by funding from Academic Affairs, which will be discussed Monday. The ALEKS company will have to send one of its IT employees to help LSU IT set up a method to report scores to the University.
The student representative on the committee, Thomas Rodgers, said he is wary of this change to Math 1550 prerequisites.
“It sets a dangerous precedent. … It does away with University courses being prerequisites,” he said. “It also requires the student to pay for course materials before they know they are in [the course].”
According to Rodgers, the committee will hear more discussion and vote on this proposal Monday.
 
 
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Contact Rachel Wilson at [email protected]