BOSTON, Dec. 5, 2005 -A new white paper validates the success of MyMathLab, an online courseware that has successfully reshaped how math is taught and learned in college mathematics courses.

The report, "Making the Grade: A Report on the Success of MyMathLab in Higher Education Math Instruction," summarizes several surveys conducted of faculty and student users of MyMathLab as well as interviews with faculty members and instructors. Colleges and universities around the country are reporting increases in pass rates of 30-40 percent.

MyMathLab is an innovative series of text-specific online courses designed to work with Pearson Addison-Wesley and Pearson Prentice Hall mathematics and statistics textbooks. It is modular, self-paced, deliverable anywhere with Web access, and adaptable to each student's level of learning. Unlike the traditional lecture-based model of course delivery where students are passive recipients of information, MyMathLab enhances course delivery by engaging students in active learning, at the time, in the place and according to the style and pace that best suits them.

"Institutions are finding they can save money without jeopardizing quality. Faculty are finding more time for students and spending less time on mundane administrative tasks. Most important, students are motivated to do more homework, they're retaining more knowledge, and they're passing their classes the first time around," said Sandi Kirshner, Pearson Higher Education.

Since 2001, approximately 1 million students have used MyMathLab and an alternative version, MathXL. Today, more than 1,100 colleges and universities use MML, and just since January of this year 350,000 students have enrolled in a MML or MathXL course.

"MyMathLab is the best thing that has happened in the 46 years I've been teaching math. For the first time, students are coming to class wanting to learn," said Sue Kyriazopoulos, DeVry University, Chicago. DeVry, one of the largest degree-granting higher education systems in North America, provides every student the mathematics instruction they need at a pace appropriate for them via MyMathLab.

Tightly integrated with the classroom textbook, MyMathLab offers a rich set of course materials and adaptable instruction tools that allow the instructor to offer the entire program, a portion of the program, or just the homework option. Features include extensive online tutorial exercises, online homework assignments that are graded automatically, personalized study plans for students based on their test or quiz results, and free math tutoring.

One example of how MyMathLab has helped improve passing rates is at the University of Alabama, where the school was not experiencing the success with traditional formats that it wanted. Faculty wanted more for their students: more learning, more retention and more opportunity to succeed. Today about 3,500 pre-calculus students are taught by MyMathLab. Before migrating instruction to MML, the school had pass rates of 40-45 percent. Now success rates are regularly in the 70-75 percent range.

The University of Idaho uses MyMathLab exclusively for homework in hybrid courses that require students to attend classes once a week and labs three times a week. Students have the choice of completing homework assignments from a textbook or by using MyMathLab.

Kirk Trigsted, professor of intermediate algebra at Idaho, reports that students who chose the MyMathLab option did better on passing the course than those who chose homework from the book. "So far, it seems that the students who choose the MML option comprehend the material better than the students who do the textbook homework," Trigsted noted. He suspects that a large component of the point difference is the immediate feedback students receive from MML. Students know in an instant whether they understand the material, and if not, they can redo a problem until they get it right. He sees students doing better and enjoying math more.

At Delaware Technical & Community College, MyMathLab was originally intended for use strictly in online courses, but following its success is now offered in the school's campus-based basic math course which has a lecture/lab setting. Instructors now spend less time on administrative tasks and more time focusing on student needs. Instructor Darlene Winnington says that with MML, participation in class has increased, homework completion has increased, and pass rates have skyrocketed. Her first semester using MML in basic math resulted in a pass rate of 84 percent - up from 40 percent the semester before with MML.

Students are equally enthusiastic about MyMathLab. One student at the University of Missouri-Columbia said "this type of preparation has increased my preparedness for every math test that I have taken since using the program. This has pretty much been the only thing ever to help me grasp concepts in math."

The white paper was commissioned by Pearson Higher Education and included analysis of a survey of students who used MyMathLab in the fall of 2004 and spring of 2005, a spring 2003 survey of faculty who use MyMathLab, and comprehensive interviews with six instructors from six different higher education institutions. Also, a study conducted by Jacquelyn A. White, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Sciences at Saint Leo University in Florida, where final exam scores of distance learners who utilized MyMathLab and those who did not, was analyzed. The study showed exam scores were significantly higher for students who utilized MyMathLab as a learning resource.

About Pearson Education

Educating 100 million people worldwide, Pearson Education (www.pearsoned.com) is the global leader in educational publishing, providing research-based print and digital programs to help students of all ages learn at their own pace, in their own way. While virtually all students in America learn from a Pearson program at some point in their educational career, about three million college students are currently pursuing their courses online using Pearson Higher Education's products. The company is home to such renowned publishing brands as Pearson Prentice Hall, Pearson Longman, Pearson Addison Wesley, Pearson Allyn & Bacon and Pearson Benjamin Cummings. Pearson Education is part of Pearson (NYSE: PSO; LSE: PSON), the international media company. In addition to Pearson Education, Pearson's primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

Contact:
David Hakensen
(952) 681-3040