Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Study
Dissertation Manuscript
W
Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
IE
EV
PR
by
NADINE TARAZI
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.
W
IE
EV
ProQuest 10129090
Published by ProQuest LLC (2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author.
This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346
Approval Page
The Influence of the Inverted Classroom on Student Achievement and Motivation for
Leaming in Secondary Mathematics in the United Arab Emirates: A Quasi-Experimental
Study
By
Nadine Tarazi
W
Approved by:
IE
EV
Certified by:
In the United States (US) and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) students are still
attaining poorly in high school mathematics despite efforts from educational leaders to
improve the math curricula both in middle and high schools. Results of the Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) revealed that 31 countries out of 65 had better
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicated that the average mathematics
achievement of fourth and eighth grade students in the UAE was below the TIMSS scale
W
center point of 500. A quasi-experimental non-equivalent comparison-group design was
used in this study to determine quantitatively whether, or not, the inverted classroom
IE
strategy influenced high school student achievement and motivation for learning Algebra
four groups (as the school segregates gender) of about 74 eleventh graders. Two groups
PR
of male and female students received the treatment to model the inverted classroom. The
other groups of male and female students served as the comparison group and studied in a
traditional classroom. Students in all four groups were taught by the same teacher and
were given the same lessons, worksheets, exercises, and assessment. What differed was
the inverted classroom treatment given to the treatment group. The ANOVA was used to
analyze the Algebra II post-test scores of the treatment and the comparison groups, to
determine student motivation for learning Algebra II, and to test for statistical differences
in a traditional classroom. The findings also revealed that there was no significant
classroom. In-depth research studies were recommended to explore further the impact of
W
IE
EV
PR
Acknowledgements
I thank God for His blessings for being my Strengthener and my Encourager,
giving me strength of mind and courage of spirit to have completed this doctoral journey.
I am also thankful to all who have enabled the accomplishment of this lifelong
To Dr. Linda Cummins, thank you for chairing my dissertation and for guiding
me throughout these challenging milestones. You made them simple and reachable with
the right comments, annotations, and encouragements. Thank you for always being there
W
and for helping me widen my knowledge and deepen my analytical skills. I would have
never been able to accomplish this dissertation without your assistance. Thank You!
IE
To my committee members, Dr. Lorraine Cleeton and Dr. Nari Jeter, thank you
watched you grow into independent young adults through these past 6 years. I love you
PR
To my husband, Raymond, for all the sacrifices you have done and for your
achieve my goals. You taught me determination and hard work to persevere and
overcome obstacles. I thank you for everything you have done for me especially you,
mom, for your continuous inspirational messages and prayers. I love you!
Table of Contents
W
Learner-Centered Classrooms versus Teacher-Centered Classrooms ........................ 28
The Role of Technology in the Constructivist Classroom .......................................... 32
Effects of Technology on Student Outcomes in Mathematics.................................... 34
IE
Blended Learning: Its Benefits and Drawbacks.......................................................... 38
The Inverted Classroom .............................................................................................. 40
Drawbacks and Challenges of the Inverted Classroom .............................................. 50
Motivation for Learning .............................................................................................. 52
EV
Gender Differences in Mathematics Achievement ..................................................... 58
Effects and Challenges of Technology on Student Motivation for Learning ............. 60
Summary ..................................................................................................................... 63
Appendix C: The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (short version)...... 157
W
IE
EV
PR
List of Tables
Table 3 ANOVA Results for Algebra II Pre-test Scores Between Groups ........................ 96
Table 4 ANOVA Results for Algebra II Post-Test Scores Between Groups ..................... 97
Table 5 Tests of Normality for Student Motivation for Learning Algebra II .................... 98
Table 7 ANOVA Results for Pre-MSLQ Scores Between Four Groups ......................... 101
W
Table 8 ANOVA Results for Post-MSLQ Scores Between Four Groups ........................ 102
Table 9 ANOVA Results for Algebra II Pre-test Scores between Gender Across Four
IE
Groups............................................................................................................................. 103
Table 10 ANOVA Results for Algebra II Post-test Scores between Gender Across Four
EV
Groups............................................................................................................................. 104
Table 11 ANOVA Results for Algebra II Post-test Scores between the Gender Treatment
PR
Groups............................................................................................................................. 104
List of Figures
W
Figure 8. Histogram of post-MSLQ scores of the comparison group ............................ 100
IE
EV
PR
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
preparing students for the hard requirements of math courses in colleges and universities
and for careers necessitating critical thinking as well as high-level skills in mathematics
states and districts set forth procedures to improve the thoroughness of math curricula
both in the middle and high schools (Finkelstein et al., 2012). Despite these efforts,
many students are still failing Algebra. Results from the National Mathematics Advisory
W
Panel revealed that only 23% of students in the United States were proficient at Grade 12
Many studies have indicated that technology can support mathematics learning
PR
and is especially useful in developing critical thinking and problem solving skills (Al-
Shammari, Aqeel, Faulkner, & Ansari, 2012; Guven, 2012). Lage, Platt, and Treglia
and face-to-face instruction) to create a very specific and unique pedagogy. This method
the inverted classroom, teachers invert what is traditionally done at home and in class:
Students who usually attend lectures inside the classroom will view these lectures outside
the classroom through videos prior to attending class, and the homework, which occurred
2
outside the classroom, will be solved inside the classroom with the help and support of
classroom and findings of these studies demonstrated that students and educators
Horejsi, 2013; Hung, 2015; McDaniel & Caverly, 2010; Papadopoulos, Santiago, &
students surveyed responded that lectures presented through videos were easier to
W
understand than they would have been in the classroom and 78% of students valued the
fact that they can watch and review course lectures on their own timing (Foertsch, Moses,
IE
Strikwerda, & Litzkow, 2002). Additionally, 51% of students gave a response that
indicated high levels of engagement and motivation (Foertsch et al., 2002). Motivation
EV
for learning is, indeed, one of the most influential factors that affect performance in
school (Griffin, MacKewn, Moser, & VanVuren, 2012a), and much of the literature is
PR
motivation for learning (Genc Ilter, 2009; Rosen, 2009; Yasar Kazu & Demirkol, 2014).
classroom has a possible influence on student achievement and motivation for learning at
the secondary level in high schools (Gardner, 2012; Mason, 2012; Strayer, 2007). The
study explored whether the inverted classroom is a learning model that might have a
possible influence on high school student achievement and motivation for learning
Background
In Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), poor student
elicited concern among school communities and the nation's leaders (KHDA, 2013).
Only 5% of about 46,000 students had high mathematics achievement and 57% of
students had low achievement during the academic year 2012-2013 (KHDA, 2013). This
poor achievement had been revealed in 2008 when, for the first time, Dubai participated
W
worldwide assessment evaluating students’ performance in mathematics and science.
The results of the 2007 TIMSS indicated that fourth graders and eighth graders students
IE
in Dubai did not meet the international average in science or mathematics. Only 2% of
fourth graders attained the advanced international benchmark, in comparison with 41% of
EV
Singaporean students and 10% of students in the United States. Moreover, nationally,
results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test conducted in
PR
2012 revealed that the UAE ranked 48th among 65 participating countries in
mathematical literacy, with a mean score of 434, 36 points below the Organization for
identifying a continuous need for improvement, the UAE leaders are instigating and
monitoring high quality education standards by starting new policies, programs, and
initiatives.
In fact, the rulers of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates have included education
reform as part of their official Vision 2021 strategy and National Agenda targets
(National Qualifications Authority, 2013). These reforms include enhancing the use of
4
Authority, 2013). It is within this background that the inverted classroom had been
evaluated as an innovative learning model that might have a possible influence on high
school student achievement and motivation for learning Algebra II at the secondary level
The concept of the inverted classroom has existed since teachers required students
W
discussions. Teachers who provided learning resources and used radio, educational
because of the consistency and the regular use of collaborative technologies in the
EV
development of learning (Strayer, 2012).
started in 1954 when teachers delivered programmed lessons to their students using a
designed the teaching machine to improve instructional strategies for spelling, math, and
other topics. His beliefs were the basic tenets of the inverted classroom that students
learn at different pace and that learning is enhanced when there is an increased interaction
between the teacher and the student. His teaching machine was composed of a program
that transfers progressively the course content to the student through a response and
reward mechanism. However, the machine had no validity for its usage on students’
In the sixties, the first Computer Based Training (CBT) program was introduced
to the education field. This CBT program was used to deliver content to the students.
However, results of a study that examined the effectiveness of CBT versus the traditional
teaching revealed that there was no significant difference in the learning between students
who enrolled in the CBT program and students who attended the traditional classroom
(Williams & Zahed, 1996). Then, in the seventies, technology in the form of electronic
learning (e-learning) has been integrated in many universities and has been used to not
only deliver information but to interact with students. One example is the British Open
W
University that proposed a variety of educational tools as audiotapes, videotapes, and TV
broadcasts (Hawkridge, 2003). These tools, however, were still used to transfer one-way
IE
information principally from professors to students. Moreover, many researchers
huge numbers of students and the request for e-learning instruction at the secondary level
had progressed rapidly (Journell, 2010; Vilkonis & Barabanova, 2010). In the nineties,
and universities (MacKeogh & Fox, 2009). In the virtual classroom, students used IT to
access local area networks, World Wide Web sites and use remote computer applications.
These applications generally consisted of text documents, animations and videos (Popa &
Stănculea, 2012). Findings of studies, however, revealed that the level of learning in the
6
virtual classroom and the traditional classroom was not significantly different (Arbaugh,
revealed that students' scores had not improved meaningfully in mathematics between
1990 and 2009 (NAEP, 2009). Similarly, the average mathematics scores on the PISA
tests conducted by the OECD have not progressed in a decade, despite educational
reforms and technology integration (OECD, 2011). This stagnating student achievement
W
has elicited concerns about the effectiveness of the instructional methods used in schools
that students can review the lectures outside the classrooms (Lage et al., 2000). This
PR
approach blended the advantages of the traditional instruction with the flexibility of
online learning and is known as 'blended learning' (Graham, 2005; Schaber, Wilcox,
Whiteside, Marsh, & Brooks, 2010). Results of some studies showed that in blended
courses, students’ motivation for learning and students’ achievement were enhanced
instruction with constructivist learning, active learning, and interactive IT (Herreid &
Schiller, 2013; Hutchings & Quinney, 2015; Strayer, 2012; Touchton, 2015). Considered
as the pioneers of the inverted classroom, in 2007, two chemistry teachers Jonathan
7
Bergmann and Aaron Sams working at Woodland Park high school in Colorado started
the concept of the inverted classroom. Four years later, the inverted classroom learning
model spread in many states as the Highland Village elementary school and Allen high
Minnesota, Bullis school in Maryland, East Grand Rapids High School in Michigan,
Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic school in Dallas, Waverly High School in Ohio, Willis
Junior High School in Arizona, and Discovery Canyon high school in Colorado (Dunn,
2011). However, there is little quantitative, empirical evidence demonstrating that the
W
inverted classroom strategy has measurable effects upon students' achievement in
and low motivation for learning mathematics in the United States (ACT, 2013;
PR
Finkelstein et al., 2012; Milner, Templin, & Czerniak, 2011; Sesen & Tarhan, 2011) and
more specifically in the United Arab Emirates (KHDA, 2013; KHDA, 2015; TIMSS,
2011). Results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) revealed that
31 out of 65 countries had better achievement in mathematics than the United States
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicated that the average
mathematics achievement of fourth and eighth grade students in the UAE was below the
TIMSS scale center point of 500 (TIMSS, 2011). Moreover, there are still high failure
rates in Algebra II. Students are still attaining poorly in high school mathematics despite
8
efforts from educational leaders to improve the math curricula both in middle and high
schools (Finkelstein et al., 2012; Herlihy & Kennelly, 2007). The consequence of this
problem is that students who graduate from high schools do not develop sufficient
mathematics skills to master university level courses (ACT, 2013; Scott-Clayton, Crosta,
& Belfield, 2014). As a result, students lacking basic skills in mathematics take remedial
courses costing universities approximately seven billion dollars every year (Scott-Clayton
et al., 2014). Furthermore, most students, about 75 per cent, do not graduate from college
and many drop out because they cannot complete the gateway mathematics courses
W
(Complete College America, 2013). To address this problem, teachers in many countries
are changing their instructional strategies and implementing the inverted classroom
IE
model (Brunsell & Horejsi, 2013; Davies, Dean, & Ball, 2013; Dunn, 2011; Herreid &
Schiller, 2013; Kates, Byrd, & Rifat Haider, 2015; McDaniel & Caverly, 2010;
EV
Papadopoulos et al., 2010; Jungić, Kaur, Mulholland, & Xin, 2015; Strayer, 2012). At
and high levels of engagement and motivation (Davies et al., 2013; Gannod, Burge, &
classroom has any effects upon student achievement in high schools (Gardner, 2012;
Mason, 2012; Strayer, 2007). It is also not clear whether there is a correlation between
the inverted classroom model and students’ motivation for learning mathematics in high
measurable effects of the inverted classroom upon student achievement and students’
9
motivation for learning Algebra II in high schools contributed to providing the literature
with empirical evidence and determining that the inverted classroom model has an
achievement and motivation for learning Algebra II at the secondary level in an urban
W
proprietary school based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. At this school, students
in the Algebra II class have been struggling with the curriculum and many were not able
IE
to succeed the course with a sufficient grade for admission to American universities
(AUS, 2014). Approximately, 20% of the students failed the Algebra II course and 65%
EV
of students had low pass rates (KHDA, 2013). These scores are similar to other
American International schools in Dubai. Indeed, the annual report 2013 released from
PR
the Knowledge Human Development Authority (KHDA), the equivalent of the ministry
have been inspected throughout the academic year 2012/2013, 56% of students had a low
achievement in mathematics (less than 60%) and only 5% had a high achievement (more
than 90%) (KHDA, 2013). This poor student performance in Algebra II perhaps may be
due to the lack of time to practice and solve problems (Chickering & Gamson, 1987;
Meier, 2000).
10
The study employed a pre-test and post-test comparison group design and was
conducted during the first trimester of the academic year 2015-2016. The participants in
the study were 39 male students, 16 or 17 years old, from two different sections of the
Algebra II course and 35 female students, 16 or 17 years old, from two different sections
of the Algebra II course. Three trimesters were needed to complete the Algebra II course
in the school where the study was based. During the first trimester, the sections were
One section of male students (Group One M) with an existing group of participants
W
received the treatment, the reverse instruction to model the inverted classroom, and the
other section of male students (Group Two M) with an existing group of participants
IE
served as the comparison group and studied in a traditional classroom (lecture in the class
and homework at home). Likewise, one section of female students (Group One F) with
EV
an existing group of participants received the treatment, the reverse instruction to model
the inverted classroom, and the other section of female students (Group Two F) with an
PR
existing group of participants served as the comparison group and studied in a traditional
classroom. The dependent variables were the student achievement and the motivation for
learning Algebra II scores. Both male and female groups were measured on the
dependent variables, the course student achievement and the motivation for learning
Algebra II scores, mutually before and after the treatment of the independent variable, the
reverse instruction intervention that modeled the inverted classroom (Creswell, 2009).
The student achievement and the motivation for learning Algebra II scores of the group
studying in the inverted classroom were compared to the student achievement and the
motivation for learning Algebra II scores of the group who studied in the traditional
11
and their motivation for learning Algebra II. The Motivated Strategies for Learning
Questionnaire (MSLQ) created by Pintrich and his colleagues (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, &
McKeachie, 1991) was used as the instrument for this study to determine students’
Research Questions
W
and motivation for learning Algebra II at the secondary level in an urban proprietary
school based in the United Arab Emirates in Dubai. The following research questions
IE
have been designed to support the main purpose of this study:
score between eleventh grade students learning Algebra II in an inverted classroom and
grade girls and eleventh grade boys learning Algebra II in an inverted classroom?
The study aimed to explore whether the inverted classroom is a learning model
that might have a possible influence on high school student achievement and motivation
for learning Algebra II at the secondary level in a high school based in the United Arab
Emirates in Dubai.
12
Hypotheses
grade students learning Algebra II in an inverted classroom and eleventh grade students
W
score between eleventh grade students learning Algebra II in an inverted classroom and
grade girls and eleventh grade boys learning Algebra II in an inverted classroom.
between eleventh grade girls and eleventh grade boys learning Algebra II in an inverted
classroom.
studies and empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of the inverted classroom on
been chosen for this study to determine quantitatively if the inverted classroom strategy
might have an influence on high school student achievement in the Algebra II class and
on students’ motivation for learning Algebra II at the secondary level. The quasi-
experimental design has been selected as the optimum choice for this research because
participants were not randomly assigned to groups (Cozby & Bates, 2012). Furthermore,
W
experiments, they also have strengths. Findings derived from quasi-experimental
research can and have added value to research based only on true experiments (Creswell,
IE
2009; Reichardt, 2009). For instance, research in the education and science fields have
The site for this research is an urban, proprietary school offering a US curriculum,
established in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Using the previous achievements,
disciplinary records, and nationalities, the Vice Principal distributes the students to create
mixed ability and mixed culture groups. The exception to this is that the school
segregates genders. Boys and girls learn in separate divisions and in separate wings of
14
the building. The study was conducted in both the boys’ and the girls’ secondary
divisions. A total of 74 eleventh grade students participated in the study. During the first
trimester (early September to the end of December), the two sections in both divisions of
the school, girls and boys, were assigned as either treatment or comparison groups by the
flip of a coin. One section of male students (Group One M) received the treatment, the
reverse instruction to model the inverted classroom, and the other section of male
students (Group Two M) served as the comparison group and studied in a traditional
classroom (lecture in the class and homework at home). Likewise, one section of female
W
students (Group One F) received the treatment, the reverse instruction to model the
inverted classroom, and the other section of female students (Group Two F) served as the
IE
comparison group and studied in a traditional classroom. All four groups were measured
their motivation for learning Algebra II scores before and after the
Boys and girls were measured mutually before and after the treatment of the independent
This quantitative method aligns with the purpose and research questions by
enabling the researcher to compare the outcomes between groups and the effectiveness of
the inverted classroom instruction upon students’ achievement and motivation for
learning. One strength of this method is that it allows the researcher to preserve
objectivity when observing students and analyzing grades, hence minimizing biased