The effects of reading and note -taking assignments in a university Finite Mathematics course
Creators: name: Maida, Paula J.
Publisher: name: American University
Year: 2023

description: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects, if any, of reading and note-taking assignments on the mathematics achievement of students enrolled in Finite Mathematics classes at a university in Washington, D.C. The students' mathematics achievement was defined by their final examination scores and by their average grades on nine quizzes administered throughout the semester of this study. The primary question this study investigated was whether the students in the experimental group of this study made significant gains in mathematics achievement over the students in the control group. The six Finite Mathematics classes involved in this study were divided into 3 groups - a pre-reading group, a post-reading group, and a control group - such that each group consisted of two classes. The instructors of the pre-reading and post-reading groups required that their students read and take notes on sections in their textbook; the instructors of the control group did not require that their students read and take notes on textbook material. The analysis sample for the study consisted of 98 students. There were 32, 26, and 40 students in the pre-reading, post-reading, and control groups, respectively. Statistical methods were used to test the primary null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in mathematics achievement between the reading group (i.e., combination of the pre-reading and post-reading groups) and the control group. The results indicated that, at the .05 significance level, the reading group students made significant gains in mathematics achievement, as measured by quiz averages, over the control group students. Therefore, it was concluded that students who complete reading and note-taking assignments on a routine basis will perform better on frequent testing instruments such as quizzes. Secondary tests were also conducted to determine if there were any significant differences in mathematics achievement between the pre-reading and control groups, the post-reading and control groups, the pre-reading and post-reading groups, and the females and males in the reading group. The independent variables used in testing those secondary hypotheses included the students' high school grade point averages and SAT mathematics scores. In addition, tests were conducted to investigate if there were any significant differences in mathematics achievement between the reading and control groups using SAT verbal scores as the covariate. The tests of the secondary hypotheses did not indicate significance at the .05 significance level. Another question that was investigated in this study was whether the method of reading and note-taking affected the attitudes of the reading group students. Attitude surveys were given to the instructors and students involved in this study and this question was qualitatively researched. From the results of the students' attitude surveys, it was concluded that students may be more apt to believe in the benefits of reading and writing in mathematics when they frequently apply this method. The survey results indicated that the majority of reading group students witnessed an increased comfort level of reading mathematics textbooks. The survey results also suggested that the students found the method used in their class to be more beneficial than the instructor observed it to be. In addition, the instructors of the reading groups commented that the reading and note-taking method fostered more verbal interaction in the classroom than if this method had not been used. Based on the results of both the quantitative and qualitative data of this study (i.e., the mathematics achievement scores and attitude survey comments, respectively), it was concluded that reading and writing activities are beneficial in comprehending the mathematical language.