Abstract
The Descriptive Tests of Mathematics Skills (DTMS) was designed for a wide range of uses in mathematics courses at the lower division level. Two tests of the battery, Elementary Algebra Skills and Intermediate Algebra Skills, were employed for placement purposes with older junior level students. Students not having the requisite skills for calculus and for statistics were required to pass an algebra course before enrolling in the advanced mathematics course. For the calculus course and for the statistics course, the average performance level of the students who had passed the DTMS was significantly higher than that observed for the students who had successfully remediated their identified weakness. Regarding the remediation, the grades in the algebra course were significantly correlated with (a) grades earned in the calculus course and (b) grades earned in the statistics course. Thus, the DTMS was found to be an effective placement instrument for older upper-division students in a curriculum demanding advanced level mathematics courses.
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