12/01/2021
By Michelle Quinno

The School of Education invites you to attend an Ed.D. Dissertation Defense by Wendy Morrow on "The Effects of Using a Hybrid of Short Lectures and Small Working Groups on Student Problem-solving Behavior, Engagement, and Motivation in Synchronous Online Community College Mathematics Classes."

Date: Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: This will be a virtual dissertation defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact Iman_Chahine@uml.edu to request access to the Zoom link.

Dissertation Chair: Iman Chahine, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Dissertation Committee:

  • Michelle Scribner-MacLean, Ed.D., Clinical Professor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Katherine Miller, Ph.D., Assistant Teaching Professor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:

In the spring of 2020, many colleges and universities had to move their classes online due to Covid-19.  This move to the virtual environment highlighted a growing problem in higher education resulting in increased failure rates for online students. This study examined using a hybrid of short lectures and small working groups in synchronous online community college mathematics classes and addressed two research questions:

  1. To what extent does the use of short lectures and small working groups in synchronous online mathematics classes affect student problem-solving behavior?; and 
  2. How does this method affect student engagement and motivation?   

The study employed a mixed methods, quasi-experimental design.  Quantitative and qualitative data were triangulated using multiple resources including interviews and surveys. Quantitative data analysis involved a combination of pair sample t-test for the problem-solving assessments and non-paired sample t-test for the surveys. Qualitative data analysis incorporated axial coding of transcribed interviews.  

Three key findings emerged. First, there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment assessment means (0.05) for the problem-solving behavior components of conceptual understanding and connections, strategies and reasoning, and computation/execution.  Second, students shifted from being risk adverse and isolated problem-solvers to becoming risk aware and collaborative problem-solvers.  Third, engagement and motivation categories of Anxiety and Failure Avoidance both showed there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment survey means (0.05).  Results from this study showed that students working collaboratively in a virtual environment seem to improve their problem-solving behavior and the level of their engagement in learning mathematics.