Outcomes of Incorporating the Science of Learning into Mathematics Curriculum

ABSTRACT

Mathematics faculty created a model for intermediate algebra integrating principles from the science of learning. The redesigned curriculum revolved around two big ideas (solving and graphing) and provided students with information about the formation of long-term memories, the benefits of distributed practice, the impact of physiological aspects of exercise and sleep on learning, and the psychological implications of mindset. The purpose of this study was to explore whether or not incorporating the science of learning into the course had an impact on course success and on future course success. The findings indicated that students in the redesigned model succeeded at a significantly higher rate both in the redesigned course and in subsequent math courses. Mathematical preparedness also demonstrated a significant impact on course success. Finally, this study suggested future studies should be done to confirm the extent that learning about learning increases success in courses other than intermediate algebra.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This assumption can be made only for students who are mathematically prepared for the course because prior knowledge may affect the ability to learn the new material and thus do the associated assignment (Hailikari, Nevgi, & Komulainen, 2008).

2. Homework data have its limitations as we know some students sit with a tutor to do their homework or use their notes all the way through. In addition, we are aware of the homework apps that are available to students and simply provide the answer to any question that is photographed. Faculty are also aware of the homework services provided by certain companies that offer to do the assignments for the students for a fee. It is suspected that a small number of students are using these services as we have seen their time spent on the homework to be extremely minimal with very high scores, yet they can do next to nothing on the exams. Nevertheless, these numbers appear to be small and have minimal impact on the homework data collected. Note that this study included all student data.

3. Values significant $p<.05$$p<.05$ are indicated by * and values significant $p<.01$$p<.01$ are indicated by ** for all results where significance tests were performed.

4. Only the 965 students who took the first exam are included in the data (spring 2016 $N=474$$N=474$; fall 2016 $N=491$$N=491$).

5. No data were available on the number of chapters read for spring 2016 as this question was added to the end of semester survey in fall 2016. See Appendix B for surveys.

6. There were 70 prepared students during the two semesters who maintained the distributed practice habit throughout the semester and 63 of those students passed the course. There were 18 unprepared students during the two semesters who maintained this habit throughout the semester and 7 of them passed the course.