The Mathematics Department is finalizing the details of a restructured Math 108 course to be implemented next semester, and students who plan to take the course are better insured against failure.

College Algebra, or Math 108, will consist of A, B and C subsections. The department’s Undergraduate Program Committee made adjustments to the course to meet the numerical demands of freshmen science and engineering students who rely heavily throughout their college careers on the fundamental concepts taught in Math 108.

The course was modeled after the Accounting course. Last year, the Accounting 220 was sectioned into 220a, 220b and 220c because the failure rate of the course was near 50 percent.

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Andrew Earnest, Mathematics Department chairman, approached the School of Accounting based on its successes.

Earnest said the restructured Math 108 course will allow students an opportunity to progress at their own pace and be less frustrated by material they can not grasp right away.

Departmental statistics show half of students who enroll in the course do not pass. For science and engineering students that means a C or better. The material in the course will not change, only it will be sectioned.

Every five weeks an examination will be administered by the department and students who pass the exam will progress to the next tier. Students have two semesters to pass the course, and each tier is worth one credit.

We feel that students who put forth a reasonable effort will pass the course, Earnest said.

Students who can not successfully complete the three tiers are will receive a grade of PR, or work in progress, after the first semester. They have the option of returning to the course the following semester at the same level they left off.

Students who do not complete the course requirements in two semesters will receive a failing grade.

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Mary Wright, director of Undergraduate Programs for the Mathematics Department, said the course can potentially save money for students who fail to pass the C level.

Under the old system if they failed they would retake three credits the next semester, Wright said. This way there are less credit hours they have to pay for if they retake the course.

The Mathematics Department began shaping ideas for the course in 1996 and approved the course last year.

The course has positives and negatives, Earnest said. For example, students might move to the next level to an instructor they understand better than the previous instructor.

Randy Hughes, associate professor of mathematics, has coordinated the break-off points between the three modules of progression. Hughes said students who pass Math 108a should have the same instructor in successive tiers.

If the students passes the module, Hughes said. There should be no change in instructors.

This is a new thing for us to try and it is challenging for us in that respect.

The department will meet the demands of providing additional instructors by reallocating efforts by their regular faculty members.

We hope that by offering this course the [failure rate] will get smaller, Earnest said. This material is really fundamental for science and engineering students to understand, and we want them to have a grasp on it before they move on.