| Reports produced during the last few years have indicated a substantial need for improvement in mathematics education in the United States. In addition, there has been a marked increase in the amount of online education courses being offered both at the college level and the high school level in the last few years--a trend that is likely to continue. The use of worked examples is a widely used instructional strategy in the field of mathematics, where the instructor or the textbook presents solutions and the students learn by studying the examples. Students are expected to reproduce similar results on homework questions for practice. This study focused on the effects on student learning when students were provided worked examples with homework using a scaffolded online, on-demand technique (“guided homework”). Student learning was measured in an advanced level school algebra class using pretest and posttest quiz comparing an experimental group, which used guided homework, to a control group without the use of guided homework. The study also included a longer term learning measure looking at results of a chapter examination. Using worked examples integrated with homework versus homework alone showed no significant difference in students’ performance on pretest and posttest quizzes and the chapter exam. However, the study results indicated that the use of guided homework provided statistically significant (at a confidence level of less than .10), improved student learning especially to those students who were considered lower performers based upon a diagnostic exam given at the start of the school year. It would seem reasonable to expect that students with a lower mathematical ability level would require additional help on their homework. In addition, qualitative survey data indicated that a majority of the students found the use of guided homework helpful in their learning. Despite the fact that there was statistically significant difference in quiz scores using guided homework, this technique can still provide a valuable learning tool for handling student homework assistance in an online learning environment. |
