Assignment 6, Weekly Update

I thought this should have said Assignment 5, but what the heck.

My literature review:

I have been able to locate research at the community college level and am reading it voraciously now. A more comprehensive literature review with my update next week.

My research questions have included the following:

1. How effective a learning tool is the Hawkes online math program for students in remedial math programs?

2. Is there a positive or negative correlation between the time that students spend on the program working on problems and the final grade the students receive in the math class? How similar or different is it between each teacher?

3. To what degree does the instructor impact the effectiveness of the Hawkes online math program?

4. Do students beileve the program helpful in learning remedial math?

5. What features of the Hawkes learning math program are helpful or hurtful in learning remedial math?

6. Does the Hawkes learning math program incorporate any of the ideas relevant to andragogy?

7. Does the instructor incorporate any of the ideas relevant to andragogy?

8. What comfort level do students have with learning technology?

9. Does using the Hawkes learning math program increase student confidence in their ability to learn math?

10. Is there a relationship between the instructor and the usage of the program?

11. Do all students have equal technology access to the program?


Discussing and refining the research questions:

Working at a community college, I spoke with instructors who are familiar with and have used the program for some years. In our discussions, we separated the questions into three categories: 1. Student to computer program; 2. Instructor to computer program; 3. Instructor to student.

For student to computer program, technology access and technology literacy emerged as important considerations that should be accounted for in the research. In these discussions, positive and negative qualities (as they saw them) emerged that need to be considered. From these discussion, these qualities (to a certain extent) emerge from andragogy and the lack of correlation between the online program and the textbook (from the same company).

For Instructor to computer program, some teachers require that the assignments be completed for a grade on their homework while others do not. Some instructors take their students to a computer lab to demonstrate how the program works - others do not. The emphasis the teacher places on the program (or does not place) may have a strong impact on the data obtained.

For Instructor to student, a concern that emerged is that the instruction in the classroom may not always correlate with what the online program covers. This can cause frustration on the part of the student that my be directed at the program instead of the instructor. Additionally, the environment set by the instructor can have a positive or negative effect with their experience with the program.

Finally finding some research for my literature review on this, I find that most of the research is focused on the qualities of the online programs themselves. This will be helpful in designing my research questions, in particular with the instrument that I will develop to measure the effectiveness of particular qualities of the Hawkes learning math program. Another article discusses the role of the teacher setting the example for students as being important for the students to use technology - albeit, this is an older study.

When reviewing the discussions above, I had to determine what could be measured and what could not. This forced me to limit my research questions and confine them to the students and the program. This would be especially true, since I need the permission of the instructors to access student data and to give students the survey in their classes.

After this work, I feel good about my selection of research topic, and will continue to keep my research topic, but the questions I will attempt to answer will attempt to consider other influences that can impact its success or lack thereof.

Research Topic: Understanding the role of online instruction and assessment tools in remedial mathematics classes at the Community College level.

Per my discussion above, I want to use the following research questions:

1. Student to computer program:

a. Is there a correlation between the time spent in the Hawkes learning math system and the final average a student receives in a remedial math class?

b. What features are beneficial in learning remedial math?

c. What comfort level do students have with using technology?

d. What is the level of access students have to technology?


For the students using the program, it is likely that the more the students use the program, the better grade they will recieve. The total time spent on the program and their grades are records that each teacher retains, and can be easily accessed. For the features of the program, specific qualities in the program will be listed on a survey and compared with a Likert scale from 1-5 (1 being low, 5 being high). A similar Likert scale will also be used to measure students' comfort level with technology. For technology access, several categories will be offered, including other if none of the choices apply.