Effects of Video-Based and Applied Problems on the Procedural Math Skills of Average- and Low-Achieving Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of video-based, anchored instruction and applied problems on the ability of 11 low-achieving (LA) and 26 average-achieving (AA) students to solve computation and word problems. A repeated-measures design with staggered baselines was used to compare the performance of two groups of LA students and one group of AA students across three instructional conditions: (a) baseline instruction, (b) anchored instruction, and (c) instruction with applied problems. The performance of all three groups was higher during anchored instruction than during the baseline condition, but no differences were found between instruction with applied problems and the baseline condition. Qualitative analyses revealed that some LA students made fewer errors on computation and word problems during the anchored condition, whereas other students continued to make the same procedural mistakes. The findings suggest that some LA students can improve their procedural math skills as they work on solving engaging problems but other students need more explicit instruction to improve their computation skills and basic math understanding.

Integrating Reform‐Oriented Math Instruction in Special Education Settings

“…Because the design of the study included periods of typical instruction, we cannot be sure how much of this improvement, if any, can be attributed to EAI. Although there has been some evidence to suggest computation instruction embedded in EAI may have important benefits (e.g., Bottge, Heinrichs, Chan, Mehta, & Watson, 2003; Cohen, Bottge, & Wells, 2001), it is not possible to disentangle the instruction‐by‐performance effects in this study. All that can be stated with cautious optimism is that some students in both sequences improved their computation scores by participating in the combination of EAI and typical curricula.…”

Video Modeling and Explicit Instruction: A Comparison of Strategies for Teaching Mathematics to Students with Learning Disabilities

“…For students with a learning disability, video‐based interventions were studied in small numbers for teaching mathematics. For example, Bottge and associates successfully used contextualized instruction within videos (i.e., anchored instruction) to teach secondary students with a learning disability problem solving (Bottge, ; Bottge, Heinrichs, Mehta, & Hung, ), pre‐algebra (Bottge, Heinrichs, Chan, & Serlin, ), and geometry (Bottge, Heinrichs, Chan, Mehta, & Watson, ). More recently, Bottge et al.…”

Latent Transition Analysis With a Mixture Item Response Theory Measurement Model

“…Previous research has demonstrated that latent groups of students can be identified that differ in the kinds of cognitive strategies they use to answer test questions (Embretson & Reise, 2000;Rost, 1990Rost, , 1997. In this application, an LTA-MRM was used in the assessment of effects of a multiwave experiment of an EAI instructional treatment (Bottge, Heinrichs, Chan, Mehta, & Watson, 2003) on mathematics achievement of LD and non-LD middle school students. If EAI instruction is effective at improving LD students' mathematics test performance on items requiring complex skills, then they should be better able to correctly answer these items following EAI instruction than before.…”