Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Laurelee Carr

Committee Member

Charles Schlosser

Committee Member

Maryellen Maher

Keywords

Limited English Speaking/Computer Assisted Instruction/Middle School Students/Mathematics Achievement/Educational Technology

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to study the effects of using computer-assisted instruction with limited English proficient (LEP) mathematics students. LEP students had been increasingly falling behind in mathematics. It was expected that students in the treatment group would demonstrate a significant increase in achievement and a reduction of cognitive load over a period of 9 weeks.

The 150 students who were involved in this study were from 3 middle schools. The study took place over an 11-week period. Three teachers participated in weekly planning of integration of the technology into their lesson plans. The students were given a self-efficacy survey and an achievement test both at the beginning and at the end of the study. Over a 9-week period, they were asked to complete a mental effort survey each week at the end of a predesignated lesson.

Results indicated no significant difference in (a) posttest results between LEP students in the treatment and control groups, (b) mental effort survey results indicating level of cognitive load, and (c) the relationship between level of mental effort and academic growth for the treatment group. Although the results of this study were nonsignificant, further research is recommended because similar studies have indicated that the cognitive load that is experienced by LEP students can be reduced or eliminated through integration of multiple sources of information. Computer-assisted instruction may be one way to accomplish this.

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