Online Mathematics Homework Increases Student Achievement
Roschelle, Jeremy; Feng, Mingyu; Murphy, Robert F.; Mason, Craig A. (2016). AERA Open, v2 n4 Oct-Dec 2016. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1194398
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examining2,850Students, grade7
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: August 2026
- Single Study Review (findings for ASSISTments)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with low cluster-level attrition and individual-level non-response.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
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TerraNova Level 17 Math Assessment |
ASSISTments vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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690.79 |
681.95 |
Yes |
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Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 51%
Male: 49% -
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Maine
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Race Asian 2% Black 2% Other or unknown 4% White 93% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 2% Not Hispanic or Latino 98% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Free or reduced price lunch (FRPL) 39% No FRPL 61%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in 43 public schools in Maine and included grade 7 mathematics classrooms. All participating students had access to school-issued laptops that they could take home.
Study sample
Researchers randomly assigned 23 schools to the intervention group and 22 schools to the comparison group. The study analyzed results for 2,850 grade 7 students, including 1,621 students in intervention schools and 1,229 students in comparison schools.
Intervention Group
ASSISTments is an online platform that helps students complete mathematics assignments and provides immediate feedback on their answers. It also gives teachers information about student performance that they can use to plan instruction. Teachers used ASSISTments to assign mathematics homework from their existing textbooks, problems they created, or Skill Builder problem sets available through the platform. Students entered their answers online and learned whether each answer was correct. Students could try again after an incorrect answer, and Skill Builder problems could provide step-by-step hints. Teachers received reports showing assignment completion, performance on individual problems, common incorrect answers, and results for individual students and the class. Teachers were expected to assign homework through ASSISTments at least 2–3 times per week. The median class used the platform for 22 weeks and received 78 assignments, or about three to four assignments during each week the platform was used. Teachers opened reports for 75% of assignments in the median class. Teachers first had a year to become familiar with the platform and then used it with a new group of grade 7 students during the year examined in the study.
Comparison Group
Teachers in the comparison group continued their usual mathematics homework practices. These practices could include assigning homework through a school learning management system or another online resource. Teachers followed their school districts’ existing homework policies and did not receive access to ASSISTments or the related professional development during the study period.
Support for implementation
Worcester Polytechnic Institute provided the ASSISTments platform and professional development to teachers in the intervention group. Intervention teachers received 3 days of training before their first year of implementation and a 2-day workshop between the first and second years. During the first year, an ASSISTments coach provided approximately 6 hours of coaching during three classroom visits to teachers at all but one school. The coach offered two or three webinars each year and responded to teachers’ questions by email and telephone. The training helped teachers use ASSISTments reports to identify difficult problems, discuss common errors, decide when to reteach content, and provide additional practice to students.
Additional Sources
In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.
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Feng, Mingyu; Roschelle, Jeremy; Mason, Craig; Bhanot, Ruchi. (2016). Investigating Gender Differences on Homework in Middle School Mathematics. International Educational Data Mining Society, Paper presented at the International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM) (9th, Raleigh, NC,.
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Robert Murphy; Jeremy Roschelle; Mingyu Feng; Craig A. Mason. (2020). Investigating Efficacy, Moderators and Mediators for an Online Mathematics Homework Intervention. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness v13 n2 p235-270.
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Feng, Mingyu. (2014). Towards Uncovering the Mysterious World of Math Homework. Paper presented at the International Conference on Educational Data Mining (London, England,.
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Roschelle, Jeremy; Murphy, Robert; Feng, Mingyu; Bakia, Marianne. (2017). How Big Is That? Reporting the Effect Size and Cost of ASSISTments in the Maine Homework Efficacy Study.
Distance Learning Rapid Review
Review Details
Reviewed: March 2019
- Distance Learning Rapid Review (findings for ASSISTments)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
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TerraNova common Core assessment mathematics test |
ASSISTments vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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691.22 |
682.66 |
Yes |
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Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 51%
Male: 49% -
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Maine
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Race Asian 2% Black 2% Other or unknown 2% White 93% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 2% Not Hispanic or Latino 98%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in seventh-grade classrooms in 43 schools in Maine (p. 4).
Study sample
The sample was about half (49 percent) male, and primarily white (93 percent). Black, Hispanic, and Asian students each made up about 2 percent of the sample. About 39 percent of the sample qualified for the free- or reduced-price meal program, while 12 percent were special education students (p. 5).
Intervention Group
The intervention tested was ASSISTments, a web-based platform for mathematics homework and related teacher training. The web-based platform is used by students to complete their math homework. It provides students with feedback and guidance, and provides teachers with reports on student performance and commonly missed questions. For this study, the ASSISTments software was loaded with all homework problems from all textbooks in use among intervention schools, as well as math extension activities called "skill builders" covering more than 300 topics appropriate to seventh grade math (pp. 2-4).
Comparison Group
The comparison condition was business-as-usual mathematics homework practices (p. 5).
Support for implementation
Teachers received professional development in using ASSISTments that covered practices such as encouraging students to correct mistakes on questions they missed, reviewing correct solution methods for the problems that students struggled with, and talking about commonly missed questions. Teachers also had one year to learn ASSISTments before delivering it to students in the study (pp. 3, 5).
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