Research Plan: The Relationship between the Number of Math Problems Completed and Overall

Performance among Third Grade Students

Jenna Krueger
Concordia University, Nebraska

Submitted in partial fulfillment of

The requirements for EDUC 594
December, 2013

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the number of math
practice problems completed and overall performance on summative assessments by third grade
students. In this correlational study the number of practice problems completed will be
measured by a survey and overall performance will be measured through a summative
assessment. The population will consist of third grade students from Topeka Catholic Schools in
Topeka, Kansas.
Review of Literature
Students are expected to study for exams in middle school and high school level classrooms
in order to perform well on exams. However, now more than ever, elementary-aged students are
being asked to study for exams, including math exams. Researchers found that students learn
mathematics to meet their families and teachers expectations or requirements (Teoh, Koo, &
Singh, 2009, p.722). In class work may not always be sufficient and students will be to
compensate in order to fulfill their potential. Students motivation and attitude have also been
focused on to see if they factor into students study time or achievement. According to one study
students with high achievement motivation are likely to adopt deep and elaborative approaches
in their study (Abouserie, 1995, p. 16). Students who feel a sense of accomplishment in their
goals are more likely to build better study habits in the future. In elementary aged students this
sense of accomplishment needs to be built up early, so the study habits can be formed.
If the results show a positive correlation between studying and math achievement, the results
can be used to investigate further the benefits of the studying for younger students. If studying
is helpful when it comes to achievement, and achievement affects motivation as well as attitude

than it could be deduced that studying could help students have a positive outlook when it comes
to mathematics. In their research over mathematical achievement and attitudes in fifth grade
students, Ocak and Yamac (2013) noted that a major shift certainly is that mathematics is no
longer mainly conceived as a collection of abstract concepts and procedural skills to be mastered
but primarily as a set of human sense-making and problem-solving activities based on
mathematical modeling of reality (p. 381). While this shift from the need for procedural
knowledge to conceptual knowledge calls for the development of new study tactics, the ritual
could still be necessary in younger grades.
Statement of Hypothesis
There has been much research completed on the relationship between studying and older
students, but little research has been completed regarding younger students. With extreme
differences in cognitive processing due to age variances further research is warranted. Therefore
it was hypothesized that there would be a slightly positive correlation between practice problems
completed and achievement on summative assessments.
Methods
Research Participants
Participants in this study will be third-grade students from five Catholic schools in Topeka,
Kansas. The schools populations range from upper-middle-class to lower class families. The
population is primarily white, non-Hispanic. The next most dominant ethnic group is Hispanic
followed by African American. There will be approximately 170 students in the population. The
use of a stratified sampling technique will be utilized to select the sample in order to keep
classrooms intact, but keep the sample random.

Instruments
The effectiveness of practice problems will be determined with the utilization of a summative
assessment. Depending on the time of the year when the study begins, as well as the unit of
study the class are on a summative assessment will have to be formed, if an already formed test
has not presented itself before the time of study. This assessment will be made using test
questions based off of the Career and College Ready Standards. Test questions may also be
drawn from The Kansas Interactive Testing Engine, or KITE. This is a testing application that is
responsible for creating the state assessments. The tests can be given to a group of students
before the actual study to test for errors and reliability.
Students will also be given a short questionnaire asking them how many practice problems they
completed. The practice problems will be a set of 50 problems also based on the College and
Career Standards that are in the unit of study and will encompass the entire test. The problem
set, assessment, and questionnaire will be the same given to each of the classes.
Material
To help ensure that results due to the number of practice problems utilized and not the type of
instruction given, a day by day lesson plan will be given to the teachers. This unit will be
developed based on state standards and will last approximately three weeks. Educator input will
be taken under advisement and if possible a test group will be utilized. The unit will have whole
group, small group, and individual instructional. It will also allow for in class hands on
activities.
Design

The design of this study is correlational. There is one group of third grade students; they are
tested on a range of two variables; number of practice problems completed and achievement on
summative assessment.
Procedure
1. At the beginning of the school year the participants will be selected from five catholic
schools in Topeka, Kansas. Within the five schools are seven third grade classrooms
from which the participants will be randomly selected from, through cluster sampling. A
total of three classrooms will be selected to participate in the study.
2. During the school year the selected class will be taught a unit in math based on the
college and career standards. The unit will be carefully planned so that each teacher will
be providing the students with the same lessons from the same curriculum. A unit lesson
plan will be provided and teacher input will be noted.
3. After a three week unit students will spend one day for review. The students will be
given a study guide with 50 practice problems two days before the test. The students will
be instructed that they can complete as many or as few as they would like in preparation
for their test the next day. They will be told that will be asked how many problems they
completed so that students are ready to fill out the questionnaire accurately. The practice
problems will also be brought back to school to aide in this endeavor.
4. Before the test students will be given a questionnaire asking them how many practice
problems they completed.
5. Students will then take the test. The tests will be graded and scores for both variables
will be recorded.
Data analysis
Descriptive Statistics

Once data has been collected the mean would need to be determined for both sets of data. By
finding the mean, the score that most represents the data will be found. It will provide a simple
way to describe the data. The mean is found by taking all the scores in a set of data, adding them
together and then dividing them by the total number of scores. It would also be beneficial to find
the standard deviation for the scores. This measure of variance helps to describe the range of
values so that they may be compared. The standard deviation is calculated using a formula that
involves the mean.
Measure of Relationship
The data will be analyzed using the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. This test will measure
if there is a relationship between the two sets of data. If a correlation coefficient close to +1.00
is found then the variables are said to be positively correlated. If the correlation coefficient is
close to zero there is said to be no correlation. A negative correlation will be found if the
correlation coefficient is found to be near -1.00. The Pearson is a series of math computations
that takes into account every person who took part in the study and their scores.
Time Schedule
The study would begin next fall once final class numbers had been determined. Once the
selection process had taken place, permission and information forms would need to be handed
out to parents that have students participating in the study. It is best to wait until next year as
teachers and students are still adjusting to the new curriculum, and it will take time to formulate
and try out the instruments. Once the unit of study is selected, it should take approximately three
weeks to teach the preselected lessons. There will be one day for review, the day before the
practice problems should be distributed. The next day will be the day of the summative

assessment, which is also when the questionnaire will be completed. After this time the study
will be complete and data analysis may begin.

References
Abouserie, R. (1995). Self-esteem and achievement motivation as determinants of students
approaches to studying. Studies in Higher Education, 20(1), 19-27.
Ocak, G., & Yamac, A. (2013). Examination of the relationships between fifth graders self-

regulated learning strategies, motivational beliefs, attitudes, and achievement. Educational

Sciences: Theory and Practice, 13(1), 380-387.
Teoh, S. H., Koo, A. C., & Singh, P. (2010). Extracting factors for students motivation in
studying mathematics. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and
Technology, 41(6), 711-724.