Results of a remedial laboratory program based on a Piaget model for engineering and science freshmen

Engineering and science freshmen who enter our institution with algebra deficiencies have a very low probability of performing satisfactorily in the required college‐level calculus course. Two years ago, a remedial one‐semester program was conducted for 36 freshmen who were identified by an entrance examination as being weak in algebra. The course was based on the assumption that the students were ’’concrete’’ in the Piagetian sense. The main part of the course required a general physics laboratory that provided selected experiences to bridge the concrete–formal gap. After three semesters, 31% of the participants in the course were receiving grades of C or above in calculus courses, as compared to 16% of those students who did not take the remedial program.