Book Description

Remedial mathematics courses are often taught at post-secondary institutions in response to the substantial number of students entering college who lack the skills and motivation necessary to be successful in college level mathematics courses. Much of the research on remedial mathematics instruction shows that it has been only moderately successful in improving the students' achievement in mathematics or their attitudes towards mathematics (Adelman, 1995; Burley, 1994; Wieschenberg, 1994). The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of web-based computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and traditional lecture-based instruction in a college remedial mathematics course. The remedial mathematics course was taught to two groups of college students, which included a treatment group that received CAI, and a control group that received traditional lecture instruction without the use of computers. The ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) web-based software program, was used in conjunction with lecture-based instruction for the treatment group. Mathematics achievement and student attitudes towards mathematics were assessed by means of pre- and post-tests administered at the beginning of the semester and again at the end of the semester. Student withdrawal rates and passing rates for the course were also compared for the two groups. The statistical analysis of the data compiled in this study included the use of paired and independent group t-tests, analysis of covariance, and z-tests. The paired t-test results showed that there were statistically significant achievement gains within the treatment and control groups as a result of the instruction that each group received. However the independent t-tests and the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in achievement gains between the two groups when the study ended. The paired t-test results on the attitude assessment showed no statistically significant difference within each group after the study was completed. In addition, the independent t-tests and the ANCOVA results showed no significant change in attitudes between the two groups when the experiment had been completed. The z-test analyses also showed no significant difference in the withdrawal or passing rates between the treatment and control groups.