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Faculty Mini-Grant 9: Ginny Hamilton and Krista Maxson
Assessment of activity � based learning versus traditional lecture
Proposal to the South East Ohio Center for Excellence in Mathematics and Science (SEOCEMS)
A faculty Mini- Grant
Submitted by
Professor Ginny Hamilton and Dr. Krista Maxson
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Shawnee State University
940 Second Street
Portsmouth, OH. 45662
Voice: 740-351-3342 or 740-351-3340
Fax: 740-351-3584
e-mail: ghamilton@shawnee.edu and kmaxson@shawnee.edu
Purpose of this Proposal:
The purpose of this project is to investigate the effect different
teaching techniques have on student achievement. In particular we want
to determine if students taught using an activity-based lesson
incorporating the use of manipulatives perform better than students
taught in a more traditional method. Research shows that students who
are involved in activity based learning gain a better understanding of
mathematics. �Both Pestalozzi, in the 19th century, and Montessori, in
the early 20th century, advocated the active involvement of children in
the learning process. In every decade since 1940, the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has encouraged the use of
manipulatives at all grade levels.� (Hartshorn-Boren 1990).
Much of the research on the use of manipulatives has been aimed at
elementary age students or students with disabilities (Berkas � Pattison
2007, Backer, B. 2002 and Freer Weiss 2006) and we would like to
investigate this issue for students in a regular classroom in the middle
grades. �There has been a great deal of research on the use and
efficacy of manipulatives for elementary � age students, as well as
students with disabilities, but the research on the use of manipulatives
for older students and higher � level mathematics is conspicuously
lacking.� (Freer Weiss 2006)
In this project, a group of public school teachers that completed the
summer ENABL workshop in grades 4-8 will test this theory. Each teacher
will teach the same content to two different classes, one using an
activity-based approach and the second using the traditional lecture
approach. Both classes will be given the same assessment and the
results will be compared to determine if either group of students
demonstrated a better understanding of the material. This study will
also help us evaluate the ENABL project that SEOCEMS funded for
$98,527.50.
Investigative Process:
Teachers who participated in the ENABL workshops this summer that teach
two sections of the same class will pick a content area that they will
teach using different qpproaches in the different sections. One section
will have the content covered using an activity based lesson while the
other section will be taught more traditionally using the lecture
approach.
Teachers will select two sections with students of comparable ability.
The current grades of students in the two courses will be used to
determine how closely the student capabilities of each class match.
Both sections will take the same assessment that covers the content and
the results will be gathered. The content will be graded using a rubric
created by the instructor in consultation with the principle
investigators. The assessment, to be given in both sections, will also
be developed in consultation with the principle investigators.
The activities and lectures will be developed in consultation with the
principle investigators. The covered content will be a part of the
normal content for the course as reflected in the Ohio Mathematics
Content Standards. The principle investigators will serve as a resource
for the teacher as the lessons are prepared.
Phase I -Summary of Activities:
Volunteers from the ENABL workshop were recruited during the October
3, and October 4 follow up dates.
? The volunteers are:
? Brenda Bays - Northwest Middle School
? school: 259-2528
? Melissa Payton - Zane Trace
? cell: (740) 708-0845
? Amanda Veach - Zahn's Middle School
? (740) 222-8085
? (740) 493-1542
? Jeremie Spriggs - Adena Elementary
? (740) 998-2358
? Diann Kelley - South Point Elementary
? School: (740) 377-2756
There were four volunteers from the October 3rd, follow-up session that
we did not get the contact information from at the time. This will be
updated after the next ENABL follow up sessions to be held the first
Friday and Saturday of December.
It should be noted that the volunteers teach a variety of grade levels
and will not be teaching the same content as other participants.
Determination of content to be covered and development of activities and
lecture will be unique to each participant. Each teacher will
determine what content he or she wants to use for the lesson. The
content used in this project will be chosen from the content that would
normally be a part of the curriculum at the teachers� grade levels.
The principle investigators will help the teacher develop activity-based
materials for the selected content to be used with the students.
Lessons will be taught at a time appropriate for the content in the
course curriculum with all lessons and assessments completed by the end
of April, 2009. Copies of all assessments will be submitted to the
principle investigators for comparison. Student names will be removed
from the assessments with only a designation of the type of teaching
approach used to identify participants. The teacher may use a number
system to retain identification of students.
Assessments will be given as part of the students� normal evaluation and
used for the course grade. The same assessment will be used in both
classes, so the results can be considered for the course grades without
difficulty.
The assessments will be graded using a rubric that will be developed by
the instructor in consultation with principle investigators. The
instructor will have primary control of the rubric with the principle
investigators providing resources and advice about the development of
the rubric and its use. The rubric will reflect a scheme which can be
used to award partial credit for work shown by students. The work will
provide additional evidence of student understanding of the included
material. If errors are primarily basic computational errors, they will
not be considered with the same level of concern as errors related to
the taught materials.
Data, to be gathered by the principle investigators, will include
samples of the activity-based lesson used to teach the material and
instructor-provided information about the lecture used with the students
and how it was presented and what examples were given (this will most
likely be a part of a prepared lesson plan). Copies of the actual
student assessments will be collected with student names removed but
with each marked with an identification as to the presentation method
used for that student. Rubrics used to score the assessment will be
included with the submitted assessments. Based on the data provided and
the actual student scores on the assessment, a comparison of student
achievement of those students who participated in an activity-based
lesson versus a lecture-presented lesson will be made to determine if
there is a significant difference in the student achievement. Since the
same teacher will be teaching both classes and students of comparable
ability will be used, a link should be possible between the aggregate
difference in student achievement and the teaching presentation type.
Plan for Assessing Effectiveness:
Project effectiveness will be determined based on a number of factors.
The following will be used to determine how effective the project is:
- The students in each class will be asked to write a short 5-minute
essay about how comfortable they feel with the material taught at the
end of the lesson or the next day. This can be done in a journal-type
entry.
- Each participating teacher will complete a survey of his/her feelings
about how the two lessons went with the students. Questions about how
the teacher perceives the students� reception of the lessons, how well
the student was able to answer questions, what kinds of questions the
students asked during the lesson, how comfortable the teacher was
teaching using activity-based and lecture approaches, and the teacher�s
general comments and feelings about the lessons will be included. All
of the participating teachers have prior experience teaching, so they
will also be asked to reflect on how well the lesson went this time as
compared to past experiences with teaching this lesson.
- The results of the assessments showing students� performance that were
taught using the lecture approach and the activity-based approach will
be examined to determine if differences appear between the two levels of
student achievement. The data from the entire group of participants
will be aggregated to see if there is evidence of an overall difference
in student achievement between the two types of presentations.
Results will be written into a report that will be submitted for
publication in mathematics education journals.
A presentation of results will be done at the regional conference.
Results will be made available to all participants of the summer 2008
ENABL workshop. This workshop was designed to promote activity-based
teaching. A summer 2009 ENABL workshop is projected and the results of
this project will also be shared with the participants of that workshop.
Results of the project will be submitted to the SEOCEMS for
dissemination.
Budget Sources
SEOCEMS Faculty Mini-Grant, $5,000
Berkas, N., and Pattison, C. Manipulatives: More Than a Special
Education Intervention, NCTM News Bulletin, November 2007.
Freer Weiss, D. Keeping it Real: The Rationale for Using manipulatives
in the Middle Grades, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Volume
11, Issue 5, P 238, January 2006.
Hartshorn, R. and Boren, S. Experiential Learning of mathematics: Using
manipulatives., ERIC Digest, June 1990.
Backer, B. Manipulatives: Tools for active learning. Early Childhood
News. 2002
