Postsecondary gateway math education faces several challenges, including declining enrollment, budget cuts, and students struggling with math anxiety. Meanwhile, distance learning has accelerated a shift toward a wide variety of course formats.

So where does courseware fit into this challenging landscape for postsecondary gateway math education?

Courseware is a digital tool that delivers a course’s instructional content, providing students with practice and instant feedback. While courseware is popular and offers benefits, this WestEd study found that there is a clear disconnect between the challenges that gateway math faculty and students face and the aims and impacts of the courseware tools that they use.

To inform the design of courseware that better serves all students, WestEd researchers documented the experiences of faculty and students in gateway math courses in more than 60 colleges across 30 states. The report opens with a high-level overview of the challenges and opportunities for effective gateway math education. It then identifies the math teaching and learning needs of faculty and students, and offers timely recommendations for designing courseware to effectively support those needs.