Date

3-2015

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Toni L. Stanton

Keywords

ALEKS, computer assisted instruction, CRCT, intervention, Knowledge space theory, math support

Disciplines

Education | Science and Mathematics Education

Abstract

A quantitative causal-comparative and correlation research studied Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) at a middle school in rural Georgia. The purpose was to determine if computerized math instruction, as measured by ALEKS, was more effective than traditional teacher instruction with students in math support in order to pass the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). The study also explored the relationship among other variables: if the percentage of concepts a student completed in ALEKS affected student success on the CRCT, and if gender played a factor in achievement on the CRCT when enrolled in the ALEKS computer math support class. The math intervention used in this study, ALEKS, has been researched using college and high school students, but little research focused on the effectiveness of ALEKS with middle school students. All data collected was archival from the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years and included 294 total participants, of which 181 were enrolled in ALEKS for the entire year; 113 were enrolled in a traditional math support class for the entire year. The researcher analyzed two hypotheses in this study using a one-way ANCOVA and one hypothesis using a Pearson product-moment correlation. Results from this study revealed that ALEKS did not have a significant impact on CRCT test scores in the middle grades, yet there was a correlation to the percentage of ALEKS a student completed and the increase in that student's score on the CRCT. While there has been research conducted in this area, there is still room for more ALEKS research.

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