The Impact of Proper Use of Learning System on Students’ Performance

Case Study of Using MyMathLab

Mohamed Chabi

and Sharmeen Ibrahim

Department of Mathematics, Foundation Program, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

Academic Support Unit, SLSC, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

Keywords:

Independent Learners, E-learning, Learning Management System, MyMathLab, Study Plan.

Abstract:

In Summer 2012, the Foundation Program Unit of Qatar University has started implementing new ways of

teaching Math by introducing MML (MyMathLab) as an innovative interactive tool to support standard teach-

ing. MML is used to enhance learning and motivate students to be engaged outside the classroom in the

learning process. In this paper, we focused on the effect of proper use of one of the component of MML

the Study Plan on students performance. Authors investigated the results of students in Pre-calculus course

during Fall 2012 in Foundation Program and in Business Mathematics during Spring 2013 at Qatar University.

The results showed that there was a strong correlation between students’ results in study plan and ﬁnal course

grade results in Pre-Calculus course and how Business Math students beneﬁted in using Study plan in MML

to improve their Math skills. Also in this paper, we included the survey’s results on the use of MML.

1 INTRODUCTION

In this decade, the traditional ways of teaching have

almost disappeared. In many ﬁelds of life, there

is a huge evidence demonstrating that technology-

enhanced instruction will deﬁnitely improve the stu-

dent learning outcomes. It will also utilize the re-

sources available to instructors and educational stake-

holders. Josten

s Learning Corp and the American As-

sociation of School Administrators conducted a study

of 1,0000 teachers and found out that 94% of in-

structors and school superintendents believe comput-

ers have improved teaching and learning (Law et al., ;

Tapscott, 2005).

It is also revealed that the use of technology in

education expands course offerings and learning ma-

terials in addition to increasing student engagement

and motivation. Moreover, it will support learning 24

hours a day, 7 days a week.

In our study, we highlight a tool called MyMath-

Lab (MML) which is an online interactive and edu-

cational system. It covers courses from basic math

through calculus and statistics, as well as math for

business and future educators. It is designed mainly

for learners who seek more opportunity for practice,

immediate feedback, and automated grading. It was

developed by Pearson, a textbook publishing com-

pany. It is claimed by the company that since it

was released, it has been used by 9 million students

at 1,900 colleges in the United States. According

to a Pearson survey, 80% of students who used this

tool have reported that MML has helped them to suc-

ceed(Speckler, 2010).

Section 2 includes a literature review of some e-

learning systems. Section 3 mainly focuses on the

Study Plan component of MyMathLab. Section 4 dis-

cusses the results and ﬁnding of the study. Conclu-

sions and recommendations are presented in Section

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Many studies were done in the ﬁeld of integrating

technology with Math learning and teaching. In 2001,

Souters research study observed ﬁve algebra classes

involving four teachers and 92 ninth-grade students.

He concluded that using integrating technology into

mathematics can increase student achievement and

motivation which will lead to enhancing students

overall performance(Raines and Clark, 2011).

Moreover, some studies have approved that when

the student uses graphical calculator during their

learning process, then it makes it easier to decide

the best technique to solve the questions which will

lead to better learning outcomes. Several other re-

551

Chabi M. and Ibrahim S..

The Impact of Proper Use of Learning System on Students’ Performance - Case Study of Using MyMathLab.

DOI: 10.5220/0004961605510554

In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2014), pages 551-554

ISBN: 978-989-758-020-8

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

search studies have inspected the impact of technol-

ogy on student learning and found its use is asso-

ciated with skill development, content mastery, and

increased exam scores(Strayhorn, 2006; Hofmann,

2002).

One of the well known tools that aims at self-

regulatory skills during learning about complex and

challenging topics when using open-ended learning

environments is hypermedia(Azevedo, 2005). The

advantage the MML has over this tool is the auto-

generated questions by the study plan in the areas the

student face difﬁculties with.

Furthermore, the use of technology will make it

easier for the instructor to use the e-assessment tools.

This will enable faster decision making in the mat-

ter of tracking students levels and skills, with greater

validity, and a lower cost compared to the traditional

assessment procedure.

3 MYMATHLAB:’STUDY PLAN’

In Summer 2012, the Foundation Program Unit

of Qatar University has started implementing new

ways of teaching Math by introducing MML as

an innovative interactive tool to support standard

teaching. Our main focus in this study is the ’Study

Plan’ component of MML. Study Plan is designed

for students to improve their skills wherever they

face difﬁculties with in homework, Quiz or Test.

After completing each assigned question, Study Plan

will generate questions that focus on each learning

objective that the student have struggled with.

We have focused on two groups of students,

those enrolled in Pre-Calculus course and those

who are enrolled in Business Mathematics course.

In Pre-Calcluse for Fall 2012, the total number of

students enrolled was 179 female student and 107

male students, as shown in Table 1. The average

number of hours that the students engaged outside

the classroom was 18.77 hours for female students

and 12.09 hours for male students.

For Business Mathematics students, MML was

Table 1: Total Hours Spent on Study Plan - Pre-Calculus.

Factor Female Male

Max 116.75 73.87

Min 0.0 0.0

Median 13.03 7.93

Average 18.77 12.09

Std. Deviation 19.34 13.29

Total 3359.84 1293.62

Students Enrolled 179 107

piloted by one female and one male group. The

number of students involved in this piloting were 41

female students and 31 male students. In this study,

students performance who used MML was compared

to those who did not use MML of total 241 female

and 65 male students.

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Pre-Calculus Students Results

In our study we used the coefﬁcient of correlation r to

determine whether the is a correlation between effec-

tive use of the study plan and students’ performance

for Fall 2012 students. We computed r = 0.94 which

indicated that there was there was a strong correla-

tions between completing the required questions in

the study plan and a good student’s performance in

the course.

Similar study was conducted in summer 2012 for

a smaller sample and we found r = 0.92 which con-

ﬁrmed the beneﬁcially of the effective use of the

Study Plan on learners. The relation between the per-

centage of completing the required Study Plan and the

students’ overall grades is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The effect of study plan on performance of stu-

dents

4.2 Business Mathematics Students

Results

Since we do not have mixed classes at Qatar Univer-

sity, the study was carried out on separate groups of

female and male students. MML was not used from

the beginning of the semester for Business Mathe-

matics students. It was heavily used after Quiz4 and

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Test1 and Figure 2 shows the effect MML on stu-

dents progress. From the chart, there was an improve-

ment for student performance after Quiz4 through the

ﬁnal exam. For the intermediate tests, the students

grades have improved from 55% in Test1 (without us-

ing MML) to 75% in Test2 after using MML.

Figure 2: Female Students Progress After Using MML in

Business Math Course.

Figure 3 compares the grades of students who

used MML versus those who did not. It was clear that

those who used the tool scored higher than those who

did not. 18% of students who used the tool got an ’A’

while only 4% of those who did not use MML got an

’A’. The failure rate for those who did not use MML

was much higher than those who did use it, 31% ver-

sus 60%.

Figure 3: Students Grades in Business Math Course.

Figures 4 and 5 show the distribution of female

and male students who used MML with those who

did not. Among the results we got, the failure rate

for female students who did not use MML was 30%

versus only 12% for those who used it. Also, for male

students, the percentages for students who got an ’A’

for those who used and those who did not were 26%

and 0%, respectively.

Figure 6 shows the pass and fail rates of students

versus those who used MML with those who did not.

84% of those who used MML passed the course while

only 69% of those who did not used it passed the

course.

4.3 Students Feedback

A survey was conducted for students who used the

MML. In the survey, we included several questions

regarding the use of MML. In this paper, we focus

Figure 4: Grades Distribution of Female Students Used and

Did Not Use MML in Business Math Course.

Figure 5: Grades Distribution of Male Students Used and

Did Not Use MML in Business Math Course.

Figure 6: Students Overall Performance in Business Math

Course.

only on two aspects: The ﬁrst question, whether or

not the students were satisﬁed with the use of MML

and the second question was how much the Study Plan

component of MML had helped students to improve

their math skills.

The survey showed for question one, 87% claimed

that they were very satisﬁed while only 13% said they

were not satisﬁed with the MML.

The second question showed that 92% of students

who took the survey found Study Plan Component

was very useful for them versus 8% found that Study

Plan was not helpful during their learning process.

The survey results are showing in the Figures 7 and

8 respectively.

TheImpactofProperUseofLearningSystemonStudents'Performance-CaseStudyofUsingMyMathLab

553

Figure 7: Students Feedback about MML.

Figure 8: Students Feedback about Study Plan.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that there was a very strong positive

correlation between completing the required ques-

tions in the study plan and students ﬁnal course grade

in the Pre-Calculus course also the effect of the use

of study plan on Business Math students in improv-

ing their performance. Consequently, Study Plan

helped students to improve their math skill and it is

the key component of MML. We believe that more

time the student spend in Study Plan and Homework,

the higher chance he or she will pass the course with

higher grade. Based on students results we recom-

mend the following:

• All instructors should emphasize to their students

the importance of use of Study Plan and its effect

on their performance.

• Continuing monitoring students performance in

study plan to alter those who are scoring poorly

in the study plan for early intervention.

• Use study Plan results as early indicators of stu-

dents at risk.

• In assessment method we should put more weight

in study plan by increasing it by 5% at least.

• Repeat the conduct similar study for Fall 2013 as

well as Spring 2014.

REFERENCES

Azevedo, R. (2005). Using hypermedia as a metacogni-

tive tool for enhancing student learning? the role

of self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist,

40(4):199–209.

Hofmann, D. W. (2002). Internet-based distance learning in

higher education. Tech Directions, 62(1):28–32.

Law, C.-Y., Ng, L.-N., Sek, Y.-W., Goh, W.-W., and Tay,

C.-L. Mymathlab as a dynamic e-assessment tool: a

pilot study.

Raines, J. M. and Clark, L. M. (2011). A brief overview on

using technology to engage students in mathematics.

Current Issues in Education, 14(2).

Speckler, M. D. (2010). Making the grade: How to improve

your mymathlab implementation through personaliza-

tion + best practices, boston, usa. pages 2–66.

Strayhorn, T. L. (2006). College in the information age:

Gains associated with students’ use of technology.

Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 5(2):143–155.

Tapscott, D. (2005). Growing up digital: the rise of the net

generation.

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