Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching and Learning

First Committee Member

Travis Olson

Second Committee Member

Hasan Deniz

Third Committee Member

Kari Kokka

Fourth Committee Member

Carryn Bellomo Warren

Number of Pages

127

Abstract

This study examines the design and implementation of a contextualized engineering-specific corequisite Precalculus I course and its impacts on student achievement, motivation, and sense of belonging. This study was conducted in response to decreasing national rates of mathematical readiness, the elimination of stand-alone developmental mathematics courses across multiple states and systems, and the demand for research related to effective corequisite models in mathematics coursework. The intervention created an experimental section of corequisite Precalculus I in which all the students were engineering majors who did not demonstrate readiness for a college-level precalculus course. Unit lessons incorporated engineering-specific topics and career-oriented discussions. Students in this course were also enrolled in a first-year engineering seminar course with shared students. Peer mentors from the College of Engineering attended both the precalculus course and the seminar course to build community and provide mathematical support outside of class. A quantitative data analysis did not indicate any short-term differences in final exam scores or course grades between the experimental course and the other corequisite Precalculus I courses taught at the same institution that semester. A qualitative analysis showed that students in the experimental course expressed more positive emotions toward future mathematics courses and were able to provide more detailed connections between mathematics and their engineering career objectives. Findings suggest that contextualization may influence students’ attitudes and perceptions of mathematics, but longitudinal studies are recommended to potentially identify improved academic outcomes and program retention.

Keywords

contextualized learning; corequisite math; first-year engineering; precalculus

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Educational Methods | Instructional Media Design | Science and Mathematics Education

File Format

PDF

File Size

1795 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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