About a year ago, Central Oregon Community College math instructors began teaching two classes in a new, more efficient way.

The change has centered on two introductory algebra courses. Gone are two or three weekly class meetings. Instead, students attend class once weekly, and work on homework and tests in the math computer lab on their own.

As COCC has grown explosively, pressure has increased to find enough classes to meet the demand. Often, though, COCC students have been left on waiting lists and must wait to fulfill requirements in subjects like math.

Math 60 and 65, the courses in question, often had some of COCC’s longest waiting lists. The college has eased some of that pressure by limiting how often students attend lectures and increasing computer time.

Instructors, too, have more classes. Previously, they gave two weekly lectures for most sections. Now, they have one lecture per section, freeing up time to handle more classes. About 600 total students used to fit into the two math courses over several sections. With the changes, COCC fit 455 more students into the two classes over the year.

“It’s not because we’ve gone out and hired more people; it’s because of the different model,” said Doug Nelson, chairman of the math department.

Student success has lagged a bit, though.

In the fall term, 62 percent of Math 60 students received a C or better. In Math 65, that number was 56 percent. Both those rates are lower than they had been in the previous versions of the class, Nelson said.

But, he added, both rates have improved from term to term.

Nelson attributes that to students learning how better to do homework and take tests on a computer. Instructors have also improved how they teach the class.

More than ever before, for instance, Nelson is using a computer to show how to calculate some problems. Working on the computer, Nelson said, takes some getting used to. When a student answers a problem incorrectly, for example, the program points to similar practice questions.

Students who don’t need help for every part of the course can also accelerate past the class’s pace, Nelson said. While students have more flexible time under the new approach, they also need to manage their time better.

“In part, we weren’t communicating well enough to students,” Nelson said. “They’d be elated they could take math class one time a week.”

Nelson believes student performance will continue to improve, and so does COCC President Jim Middleton.

Though the college wanted to add more space for math classes, Middleton said COCC would not have made the change had staff members not believed student learning would improve, too.

The new approach forces students to be more disciplined, Middleton said. This, he believes, will serve students well over the long term.

“There’s not a way for them to sit out. I think it raises the seriousness students need to bring to the courses,” Middleton said.

It is uncertain how far COCC can push similar changes for other math courses and different subjects. Nelson is considering making similar changes to a higher-level algebra course next year.