ATTITUDES ONLINE MATHEMATICS HOMEWORK 1

Student Attitudes of Online Mathematics Homework

Traci S. Patterson

Chadron State College

EDCI 631: Research Design/Data Analysis

Dr. Scotti Finn

April 23, 2023

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate how online mathematics homework software affects

student attitudes and mathematics anxiety due to immediate feedback, multiple attempts, and

motivation to learn the concepts. One-hundred and seventy-six students will be given a web-

based survey that uses a 5-point Likert Scale asking demographic and specific questions relating

to their viewpoints of online homework. Mathematics is a core academic subject. Therefore,

developing ways to influence students' mathematics perceptions and achievement positively is

essential. Incorporating online homework systems into the mathematics curriculum may be one

such way.
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Table of Contents

Abstract…………….……………………………………………..…………………...2

Table of Contents….……………….………….……….………….…..………............3

Research Questions...………….……………….………………………………….......4

Methodology………….......…...………………….………………...……..….....….....4

Data Analysis………………..……………………………………………...……........7

Time Schedule…………………...……………………………………………............8

Budget....................…..……....………..……………………………………....……....9

References…...…………………...……………………………………………...........10

IRB....................…..……....…………………………………………………....……..13
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Research Questions

This study aims to show how online mathematics homework software affects student

attitudes and mathematics anxiety due to immediate feedback, multiple attempts, and motivation

to learn the concepts. The qualitative study will explore students’ perception of online homework

concentrating on the following research questions:

1. Do immediate feedback and multiple attempts affect student attitudes toward using online

homework systems?

2. Do students become more stressed after using online homework systems to practice

mathematics concepts?

3. Does the perceived usefulness of online homework systems influence student motivation?

Methodology

Participants and Setting

The participants for this study will be students from Morrill Junior Senior High School

located in the panhandle of Nebraska. One hundred and seventy-six students who have used the

online homework system in grades seven through twelve in a mathematics class at that site will

be surveyed. One of two teachers in the secondary school in teaches all mathematics classes.

This school was chosen for easy access due to professional relationships with administrators,

teachers, and students. In addition, the researcher is a certified teacher in the school district.

According to the school website, of the 176 students enrolled, 63% are economically

disadvantaged, with 52% females and 48% males. In addition, the student population comprises

27% minority students, predominantly Hispanic. Study participants will be selected by using the

convenience sampling method. The participants are students enrolled in the secondary school of
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interest and have online homework as part of the curriculum. The researcher will collect data

from three methods, survey, interview, and observation, to understand students’ attitudes and

beliefs toward online homework.

Data collection methods for this qualitative study will be an electronic survey, researcher

interviews and observations. A survey is an appropriate method for collecting data for this action

research study. The survey will be administered electronically to 176 students in grades seven to

twelve. An online survey is easily accessible and provides flexibility when analyzing data.

Therefore, surveys will be the primary method of collecting data.

A second method will be to conduct interviews. Interviews provide information

unavailable from surveys or observations (Mills & Gay, 2019). A structured interview will

clarify the survey responses and student perceptions of online homework programs. The

researcher will create a specific set of questions to ask ten randomly selected participants for the

interview process.

Observing participants is the third data collection technique planned to triangulate data

for this study. The researcher will be the observer and participant in two of the observed classes.

According to Mills and Gay (2019), one possible drawback to this method is that the researcher

may lose objectivity due to simultaneously participating and collecting data. Developing specific

protocols will guide and organize observations to reduce the researcher's subjectivity.

Mills and Gay (2019) describe validity in qualitative research as trustworthiness and

understanding. Considering credibility, transferability, and dependability in the research

decreases trustworthiness issues. Guba’s Criteria for Validity and Wolcott’s Strategies for

Ensuring Validity are two techniques utilized to minimalize validity concerns for this study

(Mills & Gay, 2019).

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Research Design and Variables

An action research qualitative design will be used to research students' views of online

homework in mathematics classes at Morrill Junior Senior High School. Action research in

education is an investigation directed by any personnel in a learning environment to gather

information about concerns relevant to that setting (Mills & Gay, 2019).

This study's online homework systems (OHW) will refer to technology-based problems

designed to provide immediate feedback and automatic grading (Albelbisi, 2018). Finally,

motivation is the interaction process between the student and the environment characterized by

initiating and persevering in goal-directed activities (Pocan et al., 2022).

Procedures

During the fall semester of 2023, appropriate documentation will be given to the Chadron

State College Institutional Review Board for consideration and approval. Consent/Assent and

permission to conduct research forms will be distributed to the students, parents, principal,

superintendent, and teachers. These forms will be sent electronically to appropriate parties with

an introduction letter explaining the study. Reminders and follow-up emails will be emailed in

September 2023. Parent-teacher conferences scheduled for the last week of September will

provide an opportunity to make contact with parents who have yet to respond. While approvals

are considered, an expert will review the survey, and a pilot survey link will be sent to 16

certified staff members for feedback.

Once approvals are confirmed, the online survey link will be emailed to all 176 students

in grades seven through twelve at Morrill Junior Senior High School. Responses will be recorded

anonymously to get honest ratings from the participants. The survey contains close-ended
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questions asking for demographic information and rating scale questions to get data on the

students' views of online homework systems. Two email reminders will be sent over a two-week

period with a goal of 60% or 105 student responses.

The structured interviews will be with a random sample of ten students. The researcher is

the interviewer and will have a script with a variety of both open-ended and closed questions for

flexibility to ask clarifying or follow-up questions. Three to five students per week will be

interviewed in October 2023.

The last type of data to collect will be from the researcher's observations of students in

four classrooms. Two classrooms will be observed for each mathematics teacher at the secondary

school. Two certified mathematics teachers are at the secondary school; one is the researcher. In

addition, well-organized and specific field notes will be gathered from one seventh-grade,

eighth-grade, algebra one, and algebra two class during October 2023.

Completion of the survey, interview, observations, and data analysis will continue during

the fall semester. Results will be available and ready to share in January 2024.

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics will analyze the survey data to find each question's common score

(mode). The survey results will be treated on the ordinal scale. The participant survey uses a 5-

point Likert Scale where 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Not Sure, 4 = Agree, and 5 =

Strongly Agree. A frequency bar chart will be created showing the summary of the findings.

Inferential statistics methods such as the chi-square test of independence or Spearman's

correlation are considerations to determine the correlation of immediate feedback, multiple

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attempts, usefulness, and motivation on student viewpoints toward using online mathematics

homework systems.

Reading, memoing, classifying, and organizing the field notes from the observations and

interview questions will be done to identify patterns and common themes in the data. The

observations and interviews could corroborate the survey findings or lead in a different direction.

After the analysis, ensuring the credibility of the qualitative study is vital to sharing the findings.

The researcher should consider the quality of the observations, the reliability of the participants'

survey responses, and biases that may have affected the research (Mills & Gay, 2019)

Time Schedule

TASK TIMELINE

Submission of IRB to CSC August 2023

Send out consent/assent/informational – electronic to September 2023

parents and students
Permission to Conduct Research – letter to Principal,
Superintendent

Send a Survey email link to students in grades 7-12 September 2023

Initial and reminders

Data Collection October 2023

Classroom observations
Random Interviews – 10 students

Data Analysis October/November 2023

Formulating Results November 2023

Sharing Results January 2024

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Budget

The costs of this action research study, which includes electronic surveys, researcher

interviews, and observations, will be minimal. The data collection methods would not require

special equipment. One possible expense would be the costs related to publishing the study

findings.
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References
Albelbisi, N. A., Al-Adwan, A. S., Habibi, A., & Rasool, S. (2022). The relationship between

students’ attitudes toward online homework and mathematics anxiety. International

Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 1–19.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739x.2021.2023769

Albelbisi, N. A., Yusop, F. D. (2018). Secondary school students use of and attitude toward

online mathematics homework. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational in Technology,

17(1), 144–153.

Barnsley, A. E. (2014, May 1). Analysis of the effects of online homework on the achievement,

persistence, and attitude of developmental mathematics students. ScholarWorks@UA

Home. https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/4528

Demir, M., & Souldatos, I. (2019, November 30). Exploring students' online homework

completion behaviors. International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1270336

Fabian, K., Topping, K. J., & Barron, I. G. (2018). Using mobile technologies for mathematics:

Effects on student attitudes and achievement. Educational Technology Research and

Development, 66(5), 1119–1139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-018-9580-3

Hasty, L. M., Malanchini, M., Shakeshaft, N., Schofield, K., Malanchini, M., & Wang, Z.

(2021). When anxiety becomes my propeller: Mental toughness moderates the relation

between academic anxiety and academic avoidance. British Journal of Educational

Psychology, 91(1), 368–390.

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Kim, C. M., Park, S. W., & Cozart, J. (2012). Affective and motivational factors of learning in

online mathematics courses. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(1), 171–185.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01382.x

Luttenberger, S., Wimmer, S., & Paechter, M. (2018). Spotlight on math anxiety. Psychology

Research and Behavior Management, Volume 11, 311–322.

https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s141421

Magalhães, P., Ferreira, D., Cunha, J., & Rosário, P. (2020). Online vs. traditional homework: A

systematic review on the benefits to students' performance. Computers & Education, 152,

103869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103869

Mills, G. E., & Gay, L. R. (2019). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and

applications. Pearson.

Murayama, K., Pekrun, R., Lichtenfeld, S., & vom Hofe, R. (2012). Predicting long-term growth

in students' mathematics achievement: The unique contributions of motivation and

cognitive strategies. Child Development, 84(4), 1475–1490.

https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12036

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2015, July). Strategic use of technology in

teaching and learning mathematics: A position of the national council of teachers of

mathematics. NCTM. https://www.nctm.org

Poçan, S., Altay, B., & Yaşaroğlu, C. (2022). The effects of mobile technology on learning

performance and motivation in mathematics education. Education and Information

Technologies: The Official Journal of the IFIP Technical Committee on Education, 1–30.
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Rhodes, M. T., & Sarbaum, J. K. (2015). Online Homework Management Systems: Should We

Allow Multiple Attempts? The American Economist, 60(2), 120–131.

https://doi.org/10.1177/056943451506000203

Roschelle, J., Feng, M., Murphy, R. F., & Mason, C. A. (2016). Online mathematics homework

increases student achievement. AERA Open, 2(4).

https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416673968

Serhan, D. (2019). Web-based homework systems: Students’ perceptions of course interaction

and learning in Mathematics. International Journal on Social and Education Sciences,

1(2), 57–62. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijonses.18

Williams, C. (2022). Assessing the impact of online homework on 8th-grade students'

mathematical proficiency and perceptions: An action research study. Scholar Commons.

https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6950/
ATTITUDES ONLINE MATHEMATICS HOMEWORK 13

Chadron State College Institutional Review Board

IRB Full Review Application Form

Submit six full copies to IRB Chair—allow at least four weeks for review

Research Project Title:

Student Attitudes of Online Mathematics Homework

Principal Investigator (must be a full-time faculty or professional staff member):

Traci S. Patterson
Department: Telephone: Email:
308-631-7728 traci.patterson@eagles.csc.edu

Co-Principal Investigator (student researcher):

Department: Telephone: Email:

Date Project Activity to Begin:

August 2023
Site of Research:

Morrill Public Schools – Morrill Jr. Sr. High School

Other institution/Non-institutional Investigators (describe collaboration or use of records):

Will this project be supported by funds? ___Yes _X__ No.

If yes, funding agency:

As the investigator submitting this proposed research and signing below, I agree to conduct the
research involving human participants as presented in the protocol as approved by the School
Dean/Unit Head and the Institutional Review Board; to obtain and document informed consent
and provide a copy of the consent form to each participant unless this is waived by the IRB; to
present any proposed modifications in the research to the IRB for review and approval prior to
implementation; to retain records for the mandated lengths of time; and to report to the IRB any
problems or injuries to subjects.

Principal Investigator Signature: Traci S. Patterson Date: 08/01/2023

Co-PI Signature: Date:

School Dean/Unit Head Review: Date:

ATTITUDES ONLINE MATHEMATICS HOMEWORK 14

(application continued on the next page)

CSC Full Board Review Application, continued

Using the following format and numbering, submit the following:

Principal Researcher Credentials:

1. Attach a copy of the Principal Researcher’s current curriculum vitae that documents the
credentials of the PI to conduct the proposed research.
2. Attach copies of a current certificate of training in ethical issues involving human
subject research for all members of the research team (as noted above in Principal
Investigator Responsibilities section).

Overview and Objectives of Research Project:

3. Briefly describe the purpose and methods of the proposed research:
 Research methodology to be used (brief description of research hypotheses should be
included; full description will follow below)
 Participant population
4. Include a description of procedures to be conducted.
5. Attach all instruments (surveys, recruitment documents, interview protocols, informed
consent forms, questionnaires, demographic forms, phone screens, etc.) that will be used.
6. Be sure to include appropriate background information needed to assess the participant risk
level described in 10 below.

Human Participants description:

7. Describe the participant population, including:
 Source of participant population
 Number of participants
 Characteristics of participants (i.e., gender, student, disease conditions, behavioral
abnormalities, affiliations, memberships, etc.)
8. Describe the selection of participants:
 What are the characteristics of the participants you are choosing? Offer justification
for selecting participants with these characteristics.
 Describe your recruitment procedures and explain how these procedures will help to
increase diversity.
 If the researcher, or members of the researcher’s family, will serve as research
participants, explain the rationale for use of these participants in the research project.
 If your research participants include individuals who are pregnant,
economically/educationally disadvantaged, unable to give valid informed consent due
to physical or mental condition, or from a targeted specific ethnic/cultural group,
address the rationale for such selection, any additional safeguards you will provide
for their protection, and why the research is minimal risk for those subjects.
9. Will subjects be compensated? How?
 Note: financial incentives, extra credit, and course grade incentives are not
considered a benefit to the participant. If used, these must be used cautiously so as to
not coerce participation or to skew participation from the potential population of
interest.
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10. Risks and Benefits to participants:

a. Describe potential risks and assess the likelihood, severity, duration, and effects of
use. Common risks include physical injury, psychological trauma or stress,
social/economic harm, legal risk, and loss of confidentiality.
i. Describe methods for minimizing risks. For example, document how potential
psychological distress will be addressed, by whom, and with what credentials.
ii. Describe other methods, if any, that were considered alternatively and why
they will not be used.
b. Describe the participant benefits to be gained from participating in this study
c. Explain how the risks are reasonable relative to the (i) anticipated benefits to the
subjects and (ii) the importance of the knowledge that may reasonably be expected to
result.
11. Other matters pertinent to the human participants.

Procedures to be followed with participants (Methodology):

12. Specify location of study.
13. List variables to be studied.
14. Describe method of data collection (attach copies of surveys, instruments, etc. If using a
copyrighted instrument, document authorization of use.).
15. Describe activities involving participants, including frequency and duration of each activity
(such as experimental stimulus, survey, questions asked in an interview, etc.).
16. Describe equipment used with participants, if any.
17. Specify factors that will lead to stopping procedures causing physical or emotional stress.
18. Describe biological samples to be taken (if any), method, and qualifications of individuals
taking samples.
19. Provide de-briefing method and materials for participants.
20. Describe how attention has been paid to special problems that may arise when research.
involves vulnerable populations.
21. Other aspects of the procedures.

Consent Procedures:
22. Provide a copy of the written informed consent form to be used and signed by participants
(see Appendix V). If no consent form will be used, explain how the research meets each of the
following criteria such that the research qualifies for a waiver of informed consent:
 Research involves no more than minimal risk to participants;
 Waiver will not adversely affect the rights and welfare of the participants;
 Research could not practicably be carried out with the waiver or alteration; and
 Subjects will be provided with pertinent information in some other format.

Confidentiality:
23. Describe the method(s) used to protect the identity of individual participants.
24. Describe plans for maintaining data after the study is complete. Faculty should keep a
complete copy, so the data are auditable.
25. Describe how federal requirement will be met for consent forms to be retained for 3 years
following the conclusion of the project. (Typically this entails the faculty member storing the
documents in locked storage.).
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26. If audio- or video-taping, specify tape storage, use, and when and how disposition of the
tapes will take place.
27. Other aspects of confidentiality.

Collaborations and Partnerships:

28. If access to research participants is gained through cooperating institutions not under the
control of Chadron State College, provide a letter signed by the authorized individual of that
institution, verifying that the research application and collaboration has been approved.