The Effectiveness of AlgebraByExample: Evidence From a Yearlong Randomized Controlled Trial

• In Event: 52.028 - Impact of Curriculum and Instruction on Students' Achievement in Mathematics

Abstract

The present study was designed to test the effectiveness of AlgebraByExample—an intervention which provided students with assignments containing correct and incorrect worked examples along with problem solving practice—on Algebra students’ performance and learning over the course of a school year. Students (N = 380) in 25 non-honors Algebra 1 classrooms received AlgebraByExample or control assignments throughout their Algebra 1 course. Results indicated that AlgebraByExample assignments had a positive effect on students learning in terms of conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and performance on standardized test items. Further, students with lower prior knowledge at the beginning of the school year benefited most from the intervention in terms of improving their conceptual knowledge.

Authors

• Julie L. Booth, Temple University

• Laura A. Cooper, Research for Better Teaching

• Suzanne Donovan, SERP Institute

• Alexandra Huyghe, Strategic Education Research Partnership

• Kenneth R. Koedinger, Carnegie Mellon University

• Juliana Pare-Blagoev, The George Washington University