No, thecosinebutton on your calculator has nothing to do with you getting that car loan.

Students who carry a healthy aversion to all things numerical in high school can quickly find themselves in the negative column in collegeas they struggle with the math, algebra and calculus courses that are requirements for their degrees.

WvEBcan ease the passage.

Thats the online curriculum launched seven years ago by educators across the Mountain State, including Dr. Laura Pyzdrowski, an award-winning professor in the Department of Mathematics who helped design it.

The idea is to gently introduce college-level math to high school seniors so they dont have to scramble to get back up to speed in their freshmen year.

Pyzdrowski came up the algebra component in 2000 and her WVU math colleague Dr. Michael Mays joined in 2003 to teach trigonometry.

Online courses are transmitted to several high schools across north-central and central West Virginia. To date, some 1,900 students have benefited from the program that allows them to have at it in a more supportive environment.

Its technically easy to link up: Just an off-the-shelf PC equipped with a current version of Windows, Internet Explorer and Media Playerplus a sound card and CD-ROM.

Students do the work in set locations at the schools, and theres always an accredited math teacher in the room for additional help, if needed.

That alone makes a big difference, Mays said.

We deal with formulas every day, but theres no magic formula to this one,Mays said.These are college-level courses, but we back them up with face-to-face tutoring and Internet support. The courses are paced pretty much like any college course. We just have a few more safety nets out there. Theres no more fear of the unknown.

Thepacingaspectas in lectures and homeworkis especially important, Pyzdrowski said, since it maintains continuity in college.

Well, the workload is always going to be more intense in college than high school,she said.And if you had to work be a �€~Cstudent in high school algebra, you might find yourself in trouble at some point in the semester if you have to take it in college.

WVU is on the front lines of WvEB right now, taking a lead role with content and class instruction. But the equation, Dr. Bruce Flack of the state Higher Education Policy Commission says, calls for other colleges and universities across the state to get quickly online with their own teaching efforts.

In the early years of the program, Flack said, WVU , Fairmont State and Concord also participated. The new year, he said, calls for lots of new additions.

In 2008, we anticipate adding most of the other state universities and community colleges,he said.Thats going to be such a benefit for students moving into their freshmen year.

The benefit is already adding up in the bottom line, said Mays and Pyzdrowski, who recently presented a progress report at a HEPC meeting in Charleston.

A cross-section of 181 high-schoolers taking WvEB algebra in the 2004-05 academic year increased their average ACT scores 21.22 to 22.74, based on assessment tests taken before starting the course.

The majority of that group got Bs or better, Mays said, and 98 earned As.

The work really pays off,he said.Thats because they get such good support from their high school facilitators.

Add in another factor, Pyzdrowski said.

High school students have a tendency to want to cruise when they hit their senior year,she said.Our program keeps them in what we like to call a �€~mathematics pathway.You have to take these classes anyway, especially if youre going into a field in the sciences or technology, so you might as well know it before you get here.

For more information, contact Mays at michael.mays@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2011, ext. 2324. Pyzdrowski may be reached at laura.pyzdrowski@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2011, ext. 2358.

The Department of Mathematics is in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.