Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
8-1992
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Major
Teacher Education
Major Professor
Phyllis E. Huff
Committee Members
Charles Chance, Tom Mathews, Henry Frandsen
Abstract
This study sought to determine the effects of prealgebra and arithmetic instruction on completion rates and achievement for students in a community college remedial mathematics course (RSM 0730). In the first phase of the study two sections of RSM 0730 were randomly chosen to be prealgebra classes (RSM 0730-P), and two were randomly chosen to be arithmetic classes (RSM 0730-A). The subjects were given a pretest, received fifteen weeks of instruction in either basic arithmetic skills or in basic algebraic concepts, and were given a posttest. The test used for the pre and posttests was the arithmetic section of the Academic Assessment Placement Program (AAPP) which measures skills in basic arithmetic operations. The analysis of the final grades received by the students in RSM 0730 revealed no significant differences at the .05 level between proportion of prealgebra and arithmetic students successfully completing RSM 0730.
The analysis of the mean posttest scores revealed no significant difference at the .05 level between the prealgebra and arithmetic groups.
During the second phase of the study, the arithmetic and prealgebra students who had successfully completed RSM 0730 and enrolled in elementary algebra DSM 0830 along with thirty randomly chosen DSM 0830 students who had not taken RSM 0730 were given a pretest, fifteen weeks of instruction in elementary algebra topics, and were given a posttest.
The final grades in DSM 0830 for the three groups, which were analyzed using a Chi-square Proportions Test, showed no significant differences in success rates after one semester in elementary algebra between the three groups. The mean posttest scores for the three groups were analyzed using an ANOVA. The results of the ANOVA revealed significant differences in mean posttest scores for the three groups, and Sheffe's Post Hoc Comparison Test was used to identify where the differences existed. The results of this test showed that no significant difference existed in the mean posttest scores for the arithmetic and prealgebra groups, but the nonremedial group's mean posttest scores were significantly higher than either of the other groups.
Recommended Citation
Monroe-Ellis, Mary, "The comparative effectiveness of arithmetic versus prealgebra instruction in a community college remedial mathematics course. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1992.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/10956
