Remedial known as developmental coursework are designed to get under-prepared students ready for college. Ninety one percent of colleges offer... Show moreRemedial known as developmental coursework are designed to get under-prepared students ready for college. Ninety one percent of colleges offer remedial courses in mathematics and English (Seo, 2014). Evidence suggests that traditional teaching methods do not enable all students to engage with the types of academic literacy constitutive to higher education (Lea and Street, 2006). The popularity of online discussion has been made possible through their availability in most LMS which are widely used in higher education (Dahlstrom, Brooks, & Bichsel, 2014). This study aimed at examining the use of asynchronous discussion (AD) as an instructional strategy to help alleviate some of the difficulties developmental math students make in different topics. Participants were 15 students enrolled in Summer, 2019 semester at a Community College. Results showed that students’ performance increased from pretest to posttest for students’ who participated in AD. Comparison was made with two other sections of the same course at the same college taught by two different instructors. Controlling for prior academic ability, results showed a statistically significant difference between students’ performance in the posttest in the section that utilized the AD but not the other two sections. Content analysis of students' posts showed the use of AD at least temporarily corrected students’ misconceptions when they were active and Consistent. Results were mixed for the lurker and the passive students. Moreover, correlation analysis showed no relationship for the frequency of interaction; however, a significant relationship was found for the quality of participation and students’ performance as measured by the final exam. Furthermore; no relationship between the CoI presences and students’ performance. Students’ reflections indicated that students valued the online experience. Benefits were related to students’ engagement and collaborative learning. Obstacles included students’ behavior, timing and the structure of the AD. This may imply that using structured AD may help in building a community of learners. Also, instructor presence and facilitation were necessary to promote deep learning. Future research can build on this finding by replicating the study using a bigger sample size and a longer period to allow students to reflect and discuss any conflict with their peers. Show less
