Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics Performance

This article analyzes the findings from an 18-section experiment studying the effect of homework-completion tutoring on community college students’ remedial mathematics performance. The experiment involved 529 students registered for two remedial math courses: math skills and algebra. For each cours...

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Main Authors: Alice W. Cunningham, Olen Dias, Nieves Angulo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Columbia University Libraries 2011-12-01
Series:Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College
Online Access:https://journals-test.library.columbia.edu/index.php/jmetc/article/view/725
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spelling doaj-1cd0c503841e412986a51a34aa103c3f2020-11-25T01:23:20ZengColumbia University LibrariesJournal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College2156-14002156-13972011-12-0122Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics PerformanceAlice W. Cunningham0Olen Dias1Nieves Angulo2Hostos Community College, City University of New YorkHostos Community College, City University of New YorkHostos Community College, City University of New YorkThis article analyzes the findings from an 18-section experiment studying the effect of homework-completion tutoring on community college students’ remedial mathematics performance. The experiment involved 529 students registered for two remedial math courses: math skills and algebra. For each course, the experiment studied nine sections: three experimental with multiple tutors for online homework, three control with a single tutor for online homework, and three control with a single tutor for pencil-and-paper exercises. While state budget constraints delayed the availability of tutors for the experimental group until midway through the semester, that group outperformed the pencil-and-paper group at a 0.05 significance level, while the performance of the online homework control group categories surpassed those of the corresponding pencil-and-paper categories at up to a 0.001 significance level. In addition, for each course, math lab attendance for both the experimental and control online homework cohorts surpassed that of the pencil-and-paper cohorts. These results corroborate and extend earlier research and show the importance of active problem-solving rather than passive absorption in increasing remedial mathematics performance.https://journals-test.library.columbia.edu/index.php/jmetc/article/view/725
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Alice W. Cunningham
Olen Dias
Nieves Angulo
spellingShingle Alice W. Cunningham
Olen Dias
Nieves Angulo
Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics Performance
Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College
author_facet Alice W. Cunningham
Olen Dias
Nieves Angulo
author_sort Alice W. Cunningham
title Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics Performance
title_short Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics Performance
title_full Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics Performance
title_fullStr Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics Performance
title_full_unstemmed Math Is Not a Spectator Sport: The Effect of Online Homework-Completion Tutoring On Community College Remedial Mathematics Performance
title_sort math is not a spectator sport: the effect of online homework-completion tutoring on community college remedial mathematics performance
publisher Columbia University Libraries
series Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College
issn 2156-1400
2156-1397
publishDate 2011-12-01
description This article analyzes the findings from an 18-section experiment studying the effect of homework-completion tutoring on community college students’ remedial mathematics performance. The experiment involved 529 students registered for two remedial math courses: math skills and algebra. For each course, the experiment studied nine sections: three experimental with multiple tutors for online homework, three control with a single tutor for online homework, and three control with a single tutor for pencil-and-paper exercises. While state budget constraints delayed the availability of tutors for the experimental group until midway through the semester, that group outperformed the pencil-and-paper group at a 0.05 significance level, while the performance of the online homework control group categories surpassed those of the corresponding pencil-and-paper categories at up to a 0.001 significance level. In addition, for each course, math lab attendance for both the experimental and control online homework cohorts surpassed that of the pencil-and-paper cohorts. These results corroborate and extend earlier research and show the importance of active problem-solving rather than passive absorption in increasing remedial mathematics performance.
url https://journals-test.library.columbia.edu/index.php/jmetc/article/view/725
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