An Analysis of the Effectiveness of ALEKS within a High School Mathematics Setting.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to determine if ALEKS had an effect on students when used with a ninth grade Algebra 1 course. Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) is a computer-based program that helps build deficient skills that students may lack in various subjects (i.e., math, science, and business). The sample of this study consisted of four freshman cohort classes from the graduating class years of 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 from a Midwestern suburban high school district.;Ninth grade at-risk mathematics students were enrolled in ALEKS plus Math Academy (investigational group) and an Algebra 1 course while ninth grade mathematics students (comparison group) were enrolled in Algebra 1. This study analyzed if ALEKS had an effect on growth from the EXPLORE to PLAN mathematics assessments, Algebra 1 final exam assessments, and a student's Algebra 1 course grades. A comparison was performed on students in an Algebra 1 course who were not enrolled in ALEKS plus Math Academy. This study was quasi-experimental study using a, pretest-posttest design.;The results of this study revealed that 30.4% of ALEKS users were able to close the gap on the EXPLORE to PLAN composite mathematics score. ALEKS users had higher mean and median differential and percent mathematics growth than non-ALEKS users. ALEKS and non-ALEKS users had negative differential and percent mathematics growth on the EXPLORE to PLAN composite mathematics assessment. Additionally, non-ALEKS users performed better in their Algebra 1 courses than ALEKS users. ALEKS users' grades were not impacted and there was no statistical significance when comparing mathematics growth to topics mastered and time spent on ALEKS. At-risk mathematics students with deficient skills would benefit from an extra-class intervention or computer-based program to help improve standardized assessment scores.;At-risk mathematics students need more than one year of a computer-based intervention to impact mathematics course grades and measure growth on the EPAS assessments. Data suggests that this study should further research how this program could be utilized for multiple school years and investigate a better alignment to the mathematics courses at the high school.