This protocol is for a study that examines personalized adaptive learning (PAL) of undergraduate students with a focus on mathematics outcomes. This protocol addresses two meta-analytic studies: 1) Examination of PAL within the population of undergraduate students enrolled in mathematics courses broadly (across all mathematics courses with the type of course as a moderator); and 2) Specifically in college algebra, which is a STEM pipeline mathematics course. Undergraduate mathematics courses can be roadblocks to college degree attainment. PAL offers the opportunity to develop mathematical skills in a personalized way, while enabling instructors to identify students’ struggle areas and take remedial action.Partnering with academic librarians, databases likely to index relevant studies were identified, the search strategy was refined, and keywords and subject indexing terms were identified. Titles and abstracts were independently screened by two reviewers. Full-text review is in progress. Retained studies will have data extracted that will allow the results to be meta-analyzed.The standardized mean difference will be the main effect size computed. Multilevel meta-analysis will be used to address the hierarchical data structure. Robust variance estimation will be used to estimate standard errors and hypothesis tests, addressing dependencies of effect sizes within studies. Prediction intervals for effect sizes, for study-average effect sizes, and heterogeneity statistics will be reported. Subgroup analyses will evaluate the relationship between moderators and the magnitude of the effect size. Cochrane’s criteria for assessing the risk of bias in studies with a separate control group will be applied. Reporting bias will be assessed visually with funnel plots.
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PRELIMINARY META-ANALYTIC FINDINGS EXAMINING PERSONALIZED ADAPTIVE LEARNING IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS
This study presents preliminary results of a meta-analysis that examines personalized adaptive learning (PAL) in undergraduate mathematics using evidence gap maps. PAL has been increasingly adopted in the U.S. and may be particularly beneficial to students in mathematic courses such as college algebra and calculus as they serve as gatekeeper courses, especially for those majoring in STEM fields. However, the impact of PAL's use in undergraduate mathematics has yet to be fully explored with meta-analytic methods. This project seeks to advance undergraduate STEM education research by meta-analyzing studies related to the implementation of innovative technological advancements in instruction and, specifically, how PAL intervention impacts students’ success in mathematics—going beyond results from just one institution, one setting, one sample.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2236074
- PAR ID:
- 10651437
- Publisher / Repository:
- Proceedings of EDULEARN 24 Conference
- Date Published:
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1798 to 1802
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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