Newhouse, C. D., & Squire, J. C., & Swenty, M. K. (2025, March), Math Placement Testing: Performance and Persistence in Civil Engineering  Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Southeast Conference , Mississippi State University, Mississippi. https://peer.asee.org/54211

\bibitem{asee_peer_54211}
  Newhouse, C. D., \& Squire, J. C., \& Swenty, M. K. (2025, March), \emph{Math Placement Testing: Performance and Persistence in Civil Engineering}
  Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Southeast Conference , Mississippi State University, Mississippi.
  https://peer.asee.org/54211

Charles D Newhouse P.E., James C. Squire P.E., and Matthew K Swenty P.E..  "Math Placement Testing: Performance and Persistence in Civil Engineering".  2025 ASEE Southeast Conference , Mississippi State University, Mississippi, 2025, March.  ASEE Conferences, 2025.  https://peer.asee.org/54211 Internet.  05 Apr, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_54211}
  Charles D Newhouse P.E., James C. Squire P.E., and Matthew K Swenty P.E..
  "Math Placement Testing: Performance and Persistence in Civil Engineering".
  \emph{2025 ASEE Southeast Conference , Mississippi State University, Mississippi, 2025, March}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2025.
  https://peer.asee.org/54211 Internet.  05 Apr, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_54211
author = "Charles D Newhouse P.E., James C. Squire P.E., and Matthew K Swenty P.E."
title = "Math Placement Testing: Performance and Persistence in Civil Engineering"
booktitle = "2025 ASEE Southeast Conference "
year = "2025"
month = "March"
address = "Mississippi State University, Mississippi"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/54211}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is an undergraduate college that provides degrees in fourteen majors, approximately half of which are awarded to STEM majors.  The admissions process allows cadets to choose any major and if accepted are admitted to their major of choice on a rolling basis.  Many of the STEM majors require a calculus-based math course sequence.  To start in Calculus I, VMI requires all entering students (called cadets) to pass a math placement test with a score of 21 or higher out of 30 problems.  Although the test has changed slightly over the years, the requirement to pass with a 21 or higher has remained constant.  Any student not receiving at least a 21 is required to take and pass Precalculus before registering for Calculus I.  Precalculus has a high failure rate which causes many students to either fall behind, switch majors, or drop out. The math learning losses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic have caused the engineering departments at VMI to reevaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the math placement test requirement.  This paper presents results from a careful and objective analysis into the effectiveness of using the math placement test for Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) students over the past 15 years (matriculation classes 2010 to 2024).  The challenges caused by the change in policy to no longer require SAT or ACT scores is discussed along with the resulting changes in community college policies.  Some of the changes attempted by the CEE department to mitigate the declining math skills are also presented.  Results of the analysis have shown that student success can defined in more than one way.  The results also show that math skills for the students entering VMI are changing and that a new pathway to succeed in calculus-based math courses may be needed.
AU  - Charles D Newhouse P.E.
AU  - James C. Squire P.E.
AU  - Matthew K Swenty P.E.
CY  - Mississippi State University, Mississippi
DA  - 2025/03/09
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Math Placement Testing: Performance and Persistence in Civil Engineering
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/54211
ER  -