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The effects of GO Solve Word Problems math intervention on applied problem solving skills of low performing fifth grade students

Jessica L Fede, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Abstract

This research investigation examined the effects of GO Solve Word Problems math intervention on problem-solving skills of struggling 5th grade students. In a randomized controlled study, 16 5 th grade students were given a 12-week intervention of GO Solve, a computer-based program designed to teach schema-based instruction strategies (SBI's) to solve math word problems and 16 control students continued with the standard school-based mathematics curriculum. A subset of items from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) as well as the Group Mathematics Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GMADE) was used to measure student test performance. Examiner-made probes were given to both the treatment and control groups every other week to measure student progress. Results indicate that the mean difference scores of the experimental and control groups were statistically significant on a subtest of MCAS problems and a large effect size was reported. However, no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups was found on the on the Process and Application subtest of the GMADE. On examiner-made probes, there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups. Limitations of this study as well as implications for practice will be discussed.

Subject Area

Mathematics education|Educational psychology|Curriculum development

Recommended Citation

Fede, Jessica L, "The effects of GO Solve Word Problems math intervention on applied problem solving skills of low performing fifth grade students" (2010). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI3409574.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3409574

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