WWC review of this study

Investigating Effects of Embedding Collaboration in an Intelligent Tutoring System for Elementary School Students

Olsen, Jennifer K.; Rummel, Nikol; Aleven, Vincent (2016). Paper presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (12th, Singapore,. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED577019

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    146
     Students
    , grades
    4-5

Reviewed: October 2021

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards with reservations
Number and Operations outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Researcher-developer measure of procedural knowledge of fractions

Intelligent Tutoring System offered in collaborative format vs. Intelligent Tutoring Systems

1 Day

Full sample;
146 students

0.58

0.57

No

--

Researcher-developed measure of conceptual knowledge of fractions

Intelligent Tutoring System offered in collaborative format vs. Intelligent Tutoring Systems

1 Day

Full sample;
146 students

0.68

0.71

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Researcher-developed measure of conceptual knowledge of fractions

Intelligent Tutoring System offered in collaborative format vs. Intelligent Tutoring Systems

1 Day

Students who worked with tutors on procedurally-oriented problem sets;
70 students

0.67

0.64

No

--

Researcher-developer measure of procedural knowledge of fractions

Intelligent Tutoring System offered in collaborative format vs. Intelligent Tutoring Systems

1 Day

Students who worked with tutors on conceptually-oriented problem sets;
76 students

0.50

0.52

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Study sample characteristics were not reported.
  • Race
    Other or unknown
    100%

Setting

This study was conducted in two schools located in two school districts in the United States.

Study sample

A total of 146 students in grades 4 and 5 were included in the study. The students were taught by five teachers in nine classrooms. The authors do not describe the demographics of the students in the study.

Intervention Group

The intervention was collaborative Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) which is a computer-based program that supports students’ math learning. Students were offered ITS in a whole-class format. In each classroom, teachers paired students and assigned them to work collaboratively on procedural or conceptual math problem sets for the duration of the intervention. The procedural problem sets tested students’ ability to perform necessary steps and actions in sequence to solve a problem while the conceptual problem sets tested students’ implicit and explicit understanding of the principles. Students worked with the ITS for a total of 45 minutes a day for three days.

Comparison Group

Students were offered the ITS program but worked on the procedural or conceptual math problems individually (rather than as a student pair) for a total of 45 minutes a day for three days.

Support for implementation

The study does not describe any support and training offered to the providers of the intervention.

 

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