Internet Learning Volume 6, Number 2, Fall 2017/Winter 2018 | Page 29

Internet Learning Journal
formational learning (American Institutes
for Research, 2011).
In addition to forums, there are
also weekly homework assignments
and tests, all of which are completed
in MyMathLab, an online educational
platform, that directly aligns with the
course textbook. In MyMathLab, students
have the opportunity to practice
problems, complete assignments, and
review a variety of multimedia-based
resources. The resources are specific
to each section of the textbook, making
it very simple for students to locate
resources on a given topic. For example,
if a student is struggling with how
to solve a system of linear equations
using the graphing method, she can
easily search for this topic in MyMath-
Lab and find videos, slide shows, and
sample problems. By allowing students
to seek out and choose resources that
meet their needs, MyMathLab supports
self-directed learning (American
Institutes for Research, 2011) and offers
students the opportunity to take ownership
of their learning goals (Kleden
& Adisucipto, 2015), which is a foundational
component of adult learning
theories.
Upon enrolling in the course,
students have the option of either a
16-week term or an 8-week term. Both
tracks are identical in the content that
is covered, where the distinguishing
factor is strictly that of term length. It
is worthy to note that, at the time of
enrollment, students self-select into
one of the two course term lengths. In
addition, students do not take a placement
test prior to enrolling, which leads
to some students being ill-prepared to
tackle the course objectives and expectations.
In teaching college algebra for 9
years, I wondered what differences exist
between the two term lengths. Specifically,
is there a difference in achievement
levels between the two term
lengths?
Setting and Sample
To address the research question, data
were pulled from 35 past sections of
my college algebra class from Summer
2011 to Winter 2014. These included
7 sections of the 16-week term, to include
121 students, and 28 sections of
the 8-week term, to include 691 students.
Eight-week classes are offered
more frequently at the university, hence
the higher distribution of shorter term
classes than longer term. Of the 887 total
scores for the 8-week sample, 196 (or
approximately 22%) were zeros. Scores
of 0 were removed from the data set
before analysis for two reasons. First,
a score of 0 most likely indicates that
the student did not complete the final
exam. Second, including the scores of
0 in the analysis would pull the mean
down in the analysis, thereby resulting
in a biased mean. Of the 151 total scores
for the 16-week sample, 30 (or approximately
20%) were zeros. Again, scores
of 0 were removed from the data set before
analysis.
Basic descriptive statistics were
used to learn more about the two samples.
In addition, the Mann–Whitney
U-test was used to compare the final
exam scores of students in the two
groups.
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