Jump Start: Lessons Learned from a Mathematics Bridge Program for STEM Undergraduates

Abstract

The St. Mary’s University Jump Start program for precalculus was implemented for the first time in August 2014 with the aim of helping incoming freshmen STEM majors start their degree programs on track. The audience for this program was students who did not place into calculus I. This two-week summer bridge program took place immediately before the beginning of the fall semester. The program consisted of a complete precalculus course taught to a primarily residential audience who arrived on campus early. Academically the first iteration of this program met with success by fine-tuning students’ precalculus skills and allowing them to start their degree program on track with calculus I. The program completed its third iteration in August 2016, and although students performed well in Jump Start precalculus, results were mixed for the students’ performance in the subsequent fall calculus I course. An unexpected and positive result of the Jump Start program each of the three years has been that the students have been able to acclimate more easily into college life. This paper offers a number of valuable lessons that have been learned about the summer bridge program as a whole, including reasons for the recent lack of success in the subsequent calculus I course, as well as suggestions to remedy this problem going forward.