The relationship between contextualized teaching and learning and student success

Empirical evidence has revealed the high numbers of underprepared students who are entering community colleges; however, limited research has addressed the effectiveness of specific interventions that are offered in community college classrooms. One intervention method that is relatively new is contextualized teaching and learning. This study examined the relationship between enrollment in courses that involved contextualized teaching and learning and student success. Three treatment groups were used to compare academic performance in associate's degree applicable mathematics or English courses and subsequent-sequence mathematics and English courses. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to explain the impact of contextualized teaching and learning on student success. The results suggest that when controlling for individual level variables, the use of this teaching method in associate's level community college courses was positively related to student academic success. However, instruction involving contextualized teaching and learning was negatively related to the academic success of students in subsequent-sequence English and mathematics courses that did not use this teaching method.