The fault appears to be mostly at the physics department of the college, since it apparently refuses to list the prerequisites for the course in question. Lots of colleges have open admission or only minimally selective admission to the college, but list prerequisites for specific courses that require prerequisite knowledge that is not assumed by admission to the college. Indeed, at many such colleges, math placement testing is mandatory before enrolling in a math course or one with a math prerequisite.
An introductory general physics course for engineering technology and biology majors and pre-meds typically needs math skill at the high school algebra 2 or precalculus level; at some colleges, such a course requires calculus. If a student with only first grade level math skills can register for the course, that is a predictable waste of time and money for all involved, since such a student is unlikely to succeed in the course. It is unlikely that the OP’s experiments with teaching methodology will have any significant effect on success rates for such unprepared students who really should take the necessary remedial math courses before taking this physics course.