January 2012 Volume 15 Number 1 - Educational Technology ...

Research Method
Figure 8. The screenshot of double checking
The participants in this study were selected from six classes of second and third grades in two elementary schools
in Yilan County, Taiwan. The selection criteria were listed as follows: (1) Children with low mathematics
achievement were identified by the class advisor that they had basic learning ability, need remedial instruction
and had the average scores in mathematics posterior 25% of their class in the first monthly exam. (2) The class
advisor consulted to the parents to find out the children who were willing to take the project as the experimental
group.
For the students in experimental group trained by the computer-assisted mathematic-problem-solving system after
school, there were seventeen second graders and third graders with low-achieving selected by above two criteria.
Eleven students with low-achieving in mathematics that parents couldn’t send and pick up were the control group.
To test the discrimination and difficulty of the test questions, a pilot study was held between first monthly exam
and second monthly exam of the first semester in academic year for the students from nine classes of second and
third grades in two elementary schools in Yilan County, Taiwan. The test problems were divided into two
examination papers, A and B. Both papers were designed for the students of second and third grades respectively.
The difference between these two papers was the number magnitude. Most of the number used in the paper for
the third grade was three figures; however, the number used in the paper for the second grade was double figures.
After finishing the test, we combined the papers of the second and third grades to analyze of split-half reliability,
discrimination and difficulty. Since the aim of this study was the remedial instruction of children with low
mathematics achievement, the test questions were made based on the examination paper for the second grade
(i.e., the number was double figures).
This study employed independent-sample dual-factor covariance analysis. The dependent variable was the
posttest score, the independent variables included the group and grade, and the control variable (covariance) was
the pretest score. Exploration was first conducted to see if interaction was present between the group and the
grade, and then to see if significant discrepancy was present between different factors in terms of mathematicalproblem-solving
ability enhancement after conclusion of the experiment. Through independent-sample dualfactor
covariance analysis, this study then looked into the presence of interaction between the group and the
grade. It explored the impact of different factors on learning achievement of the computer-assisted mathematicproblem-solving
system and determines whether significant discrepancy in learning achievement was present
before and after the experiment in order to clarify whether the computer-assisted mathematic-problem-solving
system could serve as an effective tool for remedial education. Answers given by students to the “Computer-
Assisted Mathematic-Problem-Solving System Questionnaire” were analysed in terms of percentage for
understanding of students’ opinion of the computer-assisted mathematics-problem-solving system.
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