Nearly half of all undergraduates in the United States arrive on campus needing remedial work before they can begin regular credit-bearing classes. That early detour can be costly, leading many to drop out, often in heavy debt and with diminished prospects of finding a job.
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So to reach students who are not ready for college-level work, or struggling with introductory courses, universities are beginning to add extra supports to the online materials, in hopes of improving success rates...
San Jose State (University) could become a living lab for (circuits course, a longstanding hurdle for would-be engineers), the first offering from edX, an online collaboration of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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The results were striking: 91 percent of those in the blended section passed, compared with 59 percent in the traditional class.
Online classes are like a public library: free and available, but used only occasionally.
