RUME 14 (Volume 1)
2011
Portland, Oregon
INQUIRY-BASED AND DIDACTIC INSTRUCTION IN A COMPUTER-ASSISTED CONTEXT.
Page: 255
We compare the effect of incorporating inquiry-based sessions versus traditional lecture sessions, and a blend of the two approaches, in an elementary algebra course in which the pedagogy consistent among treatments is computer-assisted instruction. Our research hypothesis is that inquiry-based sessions benefit students significantly in terms of mathematical content knowledge, problem-solving, and communications. All students receive the same computer- assisted instruction component. Students are randomly assigned for the semester to one of three treatments (two inquiry-based meetings, two lecture meeting, or one of each, weekly). Measures, including pre- and post-tests with both open-ended and objective items, are described. Statistically significant differences have previously been observed in similar quasi-experimental studies of multiple sections of finite mathematics (Fall, 2008) and elementary algebra (Fall, 2009) with two treatments. Undergraduates, including many pre-service elementary teachers, who do not place into a credit-bearing mathematics course take this developmental algebra course.