College students struggle with 9th grade math due to pandemic, say professors.
College Students Struggle with Math Amid Pandemic
College students are facing a significant challenge when it comes to basic math skills, and their professors are pointing to remote learning during the pandemic as the culprit.
At George Mason University, Temple University, and other colleges nationwide, students are arriving on campus unprepared and having to relearn fundamental concepts.
Shockingly, many college students are still operating at a ninth-grade math level. Considering that a freshman entering college this fall would have started ninth grade in 2019, just before the shift to remote learning, it’s clear that the pandemic has had a lasting impact on their math education.
What’s even more concerning is that even engineering and biology majors are struggling with basic math concepts like fractions and exponents.
“This is a huge issue,” Maria Emelianenko, chair of George Mason’s math department, told the Associated Press. “We’re talking about college-level pre-calculus and calculus classes, and students cannot even add one-half and one-third.”
Recognizing the severity of the problem, George Mason University took action by organizing a Math Boot Camp during summer break. Approximately 100 students participated in the camp to brush up on their math skills and bridge the gaps caused by the pandemic.
Diego Fonseca, a 19-year-old student who attended the Math Boot Camp, shared his experience of struggling with higher-level algebra due to the lack of hands-on, in-person classes during remote learning.
“I didn’t have a hands-on, in-person class, and the information wasn’t really there,” Fonseca said. “I really struggled when it came to higher-level algebra because I just didn’t know anything.”
Temple University also faces a math problem of its own. Prior to COVID, around 800 students per semester were placed in the school’s intermediate algebra class. However, by 2021, that number had risen to nearly 1,400 students.
On a quiz in the intermediate algebra class, students were asked to subtract eight from negative six. Astonishingly, no two papers had the same answer, and none of the answers were correct.
“I graded a whole bunch of papers in a row. No two papers had the same answer, and none of them were correct,” said Jessica Babcock, the Temple University math professor. “It was a striking moment of, like, wow — this is significant and deep.”
These struggles are not limited to specific universities. Iowa State University, known for its prestigious engineering program, also witnessed falling grades and more students being placed in lower-level math classes in 2020.
Furthermore, the impact of the pandemic on students’ academic performance extends beyond college campuses. Grade school students have experienced a decline in reading and math proficiency, with some even performing worse than before COVID.
A recent study revealed that fourth through eighth-grade students made even slower progress in reading and math last year compared to pre-pandemic times, dispelling hopes of accelerated learning to compensate for the learning loss during COVID.
It is evident that the pandemic has had a profound and lasting impact on students’ math skills, both in college and grade school. Efforts must be made to address this issue and provide the necessary support to help students catch up and thrive academically.
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