Project Precalculus [engineering education]

About eighty percent 80% of the engineering students entering the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez start mathematics in the precalculus course. Project Precalculus was implemented to strengthen underprepared students´ mathematical skills and to decrease the precalculus attrition rate. Project Precalculus has three main components: the Precalculus Intervention System, a system of training for precalculus teaching assistants, and a system of coordination of examinations and grading. The Precalculus Intervention System alerts students to their particular mathematical weaknesses and provides a structure to help improve these weaknesses. Precalculus teaching assistants undergo an intensive training to improve their teaching skills and to enrich their professional development in general. A stringent coordination system is in place to ensure the fairness and objectivity of grading. Since Project Precalculus has been implemented attrition rates in precalculus have dropped significantly.