Browse Theses

This study was conducted to determine whether the mathematics achievement of elementary students in computer-assisted classrooms surpassed those of students who received traditional instruction. One hundred eighty-four students in an at-risk environment (ages 8 to 14) participated. Ninety-two participants in the experimental group were given computer-assisted instruction 30 minutes a week for three months. Accordingly, ninety-two participants in the control group were not given the computer-assisted instructional treatment.

The cluster sampling procedure was used in this study. All students in grades three through six had an equal chance to participate in the study because the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) is given on those grade levels. There were two classes for each grade level. First, the researcher identified all third through six grade classes. Once identified the classes were assigned a sample code from 01 to N (where N is the total number of third and sixth grade classes). The table of Random Numbers was used to randomly select one class from each grade level. After this phase of the sampling process was completed, ninety-two students from the four classes were randomly assigned to the experimental and control group. Thus, 184 students were selected to participate in the study.

The ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used to observe differences in participants by age, gender, grade level, years retained, and teachers' years of experience. The One-Way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was employed to examine the differences in the mathematics performance of elementary students in an at-risk environment who were exposed to computer-assisted instruction as opposed to those elementary students in an at-risk environment who were exposed to traditional instruction.

Some of the conclusions of the research study were: (1) Students who received traditional instruction only were not as successful in mathematics as those who received traditional instruction coupled with computer-assisted instruction, (2) Female elementary participants did better than their male classmates and (3) Students in the sixth grade had higher mean scores in mathematics than their fourth grade counterparts.

Therefore, based on this study, the researcher has concluded that computer-assisted instruction had a significant effect on the mathematics achievement of elementary students in grades three through six.