Chapter 2.1, Problem 29AYU

Putting It Together: Online Homework Keeping students engaged in the learning process greatly increases their chance of success in a course. Traditional lecture-based math instruction has given way to a more student-engaged approach where students interact with the teacher in class and receive immediate feedback to their responses. The teacher presence allows students, when incorrect in a response, to be guided through a solution and then immediately be given a similar problem to attempt.

A researcher conducted a study to investigate whether an online homework system using an attempt–feedback–reattempt approach improved student learning over traditional pencil-and-paper homework. The online homework system was designed to increase student engagement outside class, something commonly missing in traditional pencil-and-paper assignments, ultimately leading to increased learning.

The study was conducted using two first-semester calculus classes taught by the researcher in a single semester. One class was assigned traditional homework and the other was assigned online homework that used the attempt–feedback–reattempt approach. The summaries are based on data from the study.

1. a. What is the research objective?
2. b. Is this study an observational study or experiment?
3. c. Give an example of how the researcher attempted to control variables in the study.
4. d. Explain why assigning homework type to entirely separate classes can confound the conclusions of the study.
5. e. For the data in the table, (i) identify the variables, (ii) indicate whether the variables are qualitative or quantitative, and (iii) for each quantitative variable, indicate whether the variable is discrete or continuous.

Source: Journal of Computer in Mathematics and Science Teaching 26(1):55–73, 2007

1. f. What type of variable is letter grade? What level of measurement is letter grade? Do you think presenting the data in a table from A to F would be a better representation of the data than presenting it in a graph?
2. g. What type of graph is displayed?
3. h. Could the data in the graph be presented in a pie chart? If so, what is the “whole”? If not, why not?
4. i. Considering the students with no prior college experience, how might the table and the graph generate conflicting conclusions?