Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory Study
Deficiencies in education continue to escalate around the world. The focus on outcomes assessment has narrowed instructional research and curriculum evaluation to standardized testing in certain subject areas. A prototype for a quantitative literacy assessment instrument was developed with the goal...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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National Numeracy Network
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Numeracy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/numeracy/vol9/iss1/art6/ |
| _version_ | 1819028953414762496 |
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| author | Charles Secolsky Thomas P. Judd Eric Magaram Stephen H. Levy Bruce Kossar George Reese |
| author_facet | Charles Secolsky Thomas P. Judd Eric Magaram Stephen H. Levy Bruce Kossar George Reese |
| author_sort | Charles Secolsky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Deficiencies in education continue to escalate around the world. The focus on outcomes assessment has narrowed instructional research and curriculum evaluation to standardized testing in certain subject areas. A prototype for a quantitative literacy assessment instrument was developed with the goal of diagnosing student misconceptions of basic mathematics content and changing instructional practices to undo the misconceptions by applying cognitive psychological theory. Two hundred thirty-eight basic math high school students and 209 remedial community college students in New Jersey and New York were administered the instrument, which had been based on coded data from think-aloud protocols. The instrument asked students to answer 20 basic mathematics items and, in addition, to evaluate four possible solution strategies. For each item, frequencies of selected solution strategies and the association between strategy selection and performance on the 20-question math test are presented as a means for improving instruction. Follow-up research is proposed for determining whether undoing the student misconceptions first before teaching material on a new unit of instruction may yield more positive student outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T06:06:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1b77b43bee7c4460bb66936723d047c8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1936-4660 1936-4660 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T06:06:33Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | National Numeracy Network |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Numeracy |
| spelling | doaj.art-1b77b43bee7c4460bb66936723d047c82022-12-21T19:13:37ZengNational Numeracy NetworkNumeracy1936-46601936-46602016-01-01916http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.9.1.6Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory StudyCharles Secolsky0Thomas P. Judd1Eric Magaram2Stephen H. Levy3Bruce Kossar4George Reese5Alternative Assessment StrategiesUnited States Military AcademySUNY Rockland Community CollegeSaint Peter's UniversityIndependent ConsultantUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignDeficiencies in education continue to escalate around the world. The focus on outcomes assessment has narrowed instructional research and curriculum evaluation to standardized testing in certain subject areas. A prototype for a quantitative literacy assessment instrument was developed with the goal of diagnosing student misconceptions of basic mathematics content and changing instructional practices to undo the misconceptions by applying cognitive psychological theory. Two hundred thirty-eight basic math high school students and 209 remedial community college students in New Jersey and New York were administered the instrument, which had been based on coded data from think-aloud protocols. The instrument asked students to answer 20 basic mathematics items and, in addition, to evaluate four possible solution strategies. For each item, frequencies of selected solution strategies and the association between strategy selection and performance on the 20-question math test are presented as a means for improving instruction. Follow-up research is proposed for determining whether undoing the student misconceptions first before teaching material on a new unit of instruction may yield more positive student outcomes.http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/numeracy/vol9/iss1/art6/quantitative literacy assessmentbasic mathematicsinstructional development |
| spellingShingle | Charles Secolsky Thomas P. Judd Eric Magaram Stephen H. Levy Bruce Kossar George Reese Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory Study Numeracy quantitative literacy assessment basic mathematics instructional development |
| title | Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory Study |
| title_full | Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory Study |
| title_fullStr | Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory Study |
| title_short | Using Think-Aloud Protocols to Uncover Misconceptions and Improve Developmental Math Instruction: An Exploratory Study |
| title_sort | using think aloud protocols to uncover misconceptions and improve developmental math instruction an exploratory study |
| topic | quantitative literacy assessment basic mathematics instructional development |
| url | http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/numeracy/vol9/iss1/art6/ |
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