Effects of a math-enhanced curriculum and instructional approach on the performance of secondary education students enrolled in a year-long agricultural power and technology course: An experimental study

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to empirically test the posit that students who participated in a contextualized, mathematics-enhanced high school agricultural power and technology curriculum and aligned instructional approach would develop a deeper and more sustained understanding of selected mathematics concepts than those students who participated in the traditional curriculum and instruction. This study included teachers and students from 32 high schools in Oklahoma (16 experimental classrooms; 16 control classrooms). Students were enrolled in an agricultural power and technology course during the 2004-2005 school year. The experimental design employed was a posttest only control group; unit of analysis was the classroom. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to test the study's null hypotheses.

Findings and Conclusions: The math-enhanced curriculum and aligned instruction did not significantly affect (p < .05) students' mathematics ability as measured by a traditional test of student math knowledge, by an "authentic" assessment of student ability to use math to solve workplace problems, or by an examination used to determine students' need for math remediation at the post-secondary level. In addition, the experimental group students' technical competence in agricultural power and technology did not diminish as a result of the study's experimental treatment. Thus, the study's null hypotheses were not rejected. However, the measure of students' need for mathematical remediation at the post-secondary level and the traditional test of student math knowledge did reveal results that held practical significance and favored the experimental group students.