Maribel Aguilar & Dr. Ivona Grzegorczyk
Abstract
Understanding the properties of exponents is challenging for many algebra students at the high school level. Many mathematics education researchers find that even college level freshmen have problems with exponent manipulations. In this project we investigate the quantitative outcome in ninth-grade students’ performance related to learning and working with positive integer exponents. We collected detailed scores of 53 students divided into two groups on paper-pencil pre and post tests and their answers to several qualitative questions relevant to the topic administered through the survey conducted outside of the classroom. The objective of the study was to use two different methods to teach three properties of exponents. Participants in our study group had an exploration opportunity prior to learning precise definitions and related formulas, while the control group was provided formal definitions at the beginning and proceeded to problem solving next. We analyzed data using statistical methods and our main result shows that students who did exploration first scored significantly higher than the traditional lecture structure. We also analyzed correlations for different factors and subgroups participating in the study.
Details
Session 2
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Grand Salon
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