This isn't a direct answer to your question, but it's something that I've been thinking about for a while and I wanted to get it all down.

I'm taking remedial math at my community college. Now, I'm a pretty good student, but it's been a while since high school, so I figured taking a remedial math class would be better practice than cramming for a week and retaking my placement tests.

I regret it. The remedial classes are done very badly here, and it's a real shame.

There is no 'class' to speak of. 'Class time' is a mandatory, twice-a-week, two hour slot in a depressing computer lab where students are forced to work in silence on their Purdue MyMathLab assignments (which, by the way, costs an extra 200 dollars on top of paying for the course. Great for the low income students that need these classes!). There are no lectures. There are no discussions and no opportunities for deeper learning. Success in this course relies on memorizing very very specific mathematical processes and repeating them on an assessment, not on understanding what it is you're actually doing. Hell, we aren't even allowed to leave the computer lab without a tutor's permission. We are god damn adults, and we should be treated like it!

It's punitive education. It seriously feels like I'm being punished for not knowing things. And I'm only taking this class because I think it would be a good review. I can't imagine how I would feel if I needed to learn everything here for the very first time.

I'm glad to know that everyone else in this thread has had a good experience with their remedial math classes. I think I'm going to write the president of my school a letter and urge him to start a school-wide dialog about improving these courses. I don't care if people come to this school not knowing their ABC's; I believe that everyone deserves access to compassionate, high-quality remedial education.