June 6, 2010

For Community-College Students Who Struggle With Arithmetic, Some Solutions

For Community-College Students Who Struggle With Arithmetic, Some Solutions 1

Elizabeth Redden

At Bergen Community College, Vinton Wilson, 20, works to improve his math skills using a special computer program.

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close For Community-College Students Who Struggle With Arithmetic, Some Solutions 1

Elizabeth Redden

At Bergen Community College, Vinton Wilson, 20, works to improve his math skills using a special computer program.

By Elizabeth Redden

Paramus, N.J.

Today's lesson is how to add mixed numbers: 62/13 + 87/26. "Is anyone still having difficulty finding the least common denominator?" the instructor, Robert Fusco, asks. One student raises her hand and asks for help. "I've never seen this before," she tells Mr. Fusco.

For many students, this is where community college begins—in a remedial arithmetic class, reviewing mathematics concepts they learned, or should have learned, before they

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