Remedial Tutoring Research Articles

Impact of online computer assisted learning on education: Experimental evidence from economically vulnerable areas of China

There is growing interest by both educators and policymakers in helping underperforming students catch up using computer assisted learning (CAL). While CAL interventions have been shown to be effective internationally and elsewhere in China, these have been mostly offline CAL programs that are difficult and costly to implement. An online CAL (OCAL) may be able to bypass many of offline CAL's implementation problems and enhance the remedial tutoring experience. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of an OCAL intervention on the academic and non-academic performance of students and to explore the mechanism behind OCAL's impact. According to the findings, OCAL improved overall English scores of students in the treatment group relative to the control group by 0.48 standard deviations. This impact is large when compared with offline CAL programs previously evaluated in rural China. We found that OCAL also led to a positive change in the attitudes of students towards English learning and student aspirations for their future education level. We found three possible explanations for OCAL's impact. We believe that online features that enhance the interest-oriented stimulation of the software is the main source of improvement among students. Cost-effectiveness analysis showed that the OCAL program is more cost-effective than traditional offline CAL, which is suitable for policymakers as it indicates high potential for OCAL program expansion.

Evaluating Program Enhancement Strategies for Remedial Tutoring: A Cluster-Randomized Control Trial With Syrian Refugee Students in Lebanon

Despite widespread enthusiasm for remedial education programming with refugee populations, there is little rigorous evidence on how to design and implement such programs. We employ a cluster-randomized design of non-equivalent treatment groups to test the impact of access to two types of program enhancement: longer program duration and the addition of skill-targeted social and emotional learning (SEL) activities for Syrian refugees enrolled in Lebanese public schools. We find that, compared to 10 weeks of programming, 26 weeks marginally increases students’ literacy skills (ES = 0.04) and significantly improves behavioral regulation (ES = 0.31), but students reported less positive perceptions of their public school environment (ES= −0.83 to −0.89) and remedial tutoring site (ES= −0.15 to −0.24). We also find that the addition of skill-targeted SEL activities to 26 weeks of programming results in higher student reports of school-related stress compared to programming without skill-targeted activities (ES = 0.21). Implications for program and policy are discussed.

Remedial Programming and Skill-Targeted SEL in Low-Income and Crisis-Affected Contexts: Experimental Evidence From Niger

Despite substantial cross-national interest in remedial programming as a way to support low-achieving students, evidence of its effectiveness is rare, particularly in low-income and/or crisis-affected contexts. In this article, we present experimental evidence of the impact of a remedial tutoring program on academic outcomes from a two-level randomized trial of two treatments in Niger: school randomization testing the impact of skill-targeted SEL activities and within-school student-level randomization testing the impact of access to remedial tutoring. We find that tutoring for 4 h per week improves students’ literacy and Math outcomes, and the addition of skill-targeted SEL activities positively impacts school grades above and beyond access to tutoring alone. These findings suggest the potential value of remedial tutoring to supplement formal schooling in low-income and/or conflict-affected contexts. They also suggest increased attention to implementation strategies, as access alone was insufficient for students to attain grade-level competencies.

Children With Reduced Cognitive Efficiency and Addition of Natural Numbers up to 20: A Case Study

The study deals with teaching and learning the addition of natural numbers up to 20 in the first two years of primary school. The first part presents the theoretical background for addition of natural numbers, the procedural and conceptual approach to addition, and the theory of the additive triad. The causes of the difficulties some children have with the field of the addition of natural numbers are outlined, and the issue of reduced cognitive efficiency is briefly introduced as one of the causes. The second part of the study presents a case study of a girl (7 years old) who experienced difficulty in learning addition. The approaches to and results of remedial tutoring completed by the girl are described. In the discussion, the issue of the addition of natural numbers is incorporated into a broader pedagogical context.

Challenges for Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research in the Era of COVID-19.

Challenges for Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research in the Era of COVID-19.

The Impact of Supplemental Instruction on the Performance and Attitudes of General Chemistry Students

The Impact of Supplemental Instruction on the Performance and Attitudes of General Chemistry Students

Academic effort hindered by peer pressure

Education Allowing promising adolescents to keep their academic efforts private could prevent them from reducing their efforts in order to fit in with lower-performing classmates. Bursztyn and Jensen describe a natural experiment showing that effort among the highest performers on a computerized remedial tutoring system diminished after the system began to identify top performers for all users to see. Their field experiment offered free training for a college admissions test to students who took both honors and non-honors classes. If the offer was made during a non-honors class, enrollment was lower if students were told that their decision would be shared with the class, rather than kept private. There was no difference between public and private when offers were made during an honors class. Quart. J. Econ. 10.1093/qje/qjv021 (2015).

Essential Fatty Acids for Childhood Mental Health Disorders

No child psychiatric disorder has a single treatment that is completely satisfactory. Combinations are sometimes more beneficial than single treatments. This is well established for medication + behavioral treatment for depression and ADHD. There is wide variability in the evidence base for various treatments, from FDA-approved RCTs to open pilots. In the search for additional or alternative treatments, essential fatty acids seem especially to pass the SECS criterion: a treatment that is safe, easy, cheap, and sensible does not need as much evidence to justify patient trials as one that is risky, unrealistic, difficult, or expensive (RUDE). Not only do omega-3 fatty acids have some RCT evidence for a small effect in several psychiatric disorders, but they also are believed useful in preventing cardiac morbidity and excessive inflammation. Therefore, for ADHD, we recommend a combination of behavioral treatment (e.g., parent training, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for older patients), FDA-approved medication, (primarily stimulants), an RDI/RDA multivitamin/mineral to compensate for stimulant appetite suppression, and about a gram a day of EPA/DHA, possibly supplemented with 50–100 mg GLA. For mood disorders, we recommend a combination of mood stabilizer or antidepressant (depending on which mood disorder), CBT, RDA/RDI multivitamin/mineral (in view of reported vitamin D deficiencies and vitamin wasting from some anticonvulsant mood stabilizers), and a gram per day of EPA/DHA. For autism, we recommend applied behavior analysis, RDA/RDI multivitamin/mineral in view of the often idiosyncratic unbalanced diet, ADHD medication if a problem with hyperactivity, antipsychotic if a problem with irritability/aggression, and omega-3 for anti-inflammatory effect. For learning disorder and developmental coordination disorder, we recommend remedial tutoring or occupational therapy and EPA/DHA. For children at high risk for psychosis or mood disorder, we recommend counseling, monitoring for early indication of low-dose antipsychotic, and general nutritional support, including EPA/DHA. For Tourette’s and aggression, EPA/DHA and other nutritional support can be added to standard treatment. When using fish oil, it is important to make sure it was refined to eliminate contaminants such as mercury. The effect accumulates gradually over months. There is no convincing evidence of greater benefit but some risk from amounts over a gram or two per day.

Cloud-Based E-Learning Assessment and Remedial Tutoring System: A Case Study of the Idioms Self-Study in Elementary School

This study applies cloud computing combining the theory of learning hierarchy to the digital learning assessment and remedial instruction, and explores the learning effectiveness on the learning model of self-learning in Chinese idioms. In this study, 60 students in grades three to six of an Elementary School in Nantou County of Taiwan participated in the research experiments. The results of this study reveal that the learning on Chinese idioms through the cloud-based E-learning assessment and remedial tutoring system is superior to the traditional reading to learn. The learning achievements of the students learning Chinese idioms by the proposed system are significantly improved. Therefore, the cloud-based E-learning teaching materials, methods of assessment, and remedial instruction are worth to develop and research.

Remediating Number Combination and Word Problem Deficits Among Students With Mathematics Difficulties: A Randomized Control Trial.

The purposes of this study were to assess the efficacy of remedial tutoring for 3rd graders with mathematics difficulty, to investigate whether tutoring is differentially efficacious depending on students' math difficulty status (mathematics difficulty alone vs. mathematics plus reading difficulty), to explore transfer from number combination (NC) remediation, and to examine the transportability of the tutoring protocols. At 2 sites, 133 students were stratified on mathematics difficulty status and site and then randomly assigned to 3 conditions: control (no tutoring), tutoring on automatic retrieval of NCs (i.e., Math Flash), or tutoring on word problems with attention to the foundational skills of NCs, procedural calculations, and algebra (i.e., Pirate Math). Tutoring occurred for 16 weeks, 3 sessions per week and 20-30 min per session. Math Flash enhanced fluency with NCs with transfer to procedural computation but without transfer to algebra or word problems. Pirate Math enhanced word problem skill as well as fluency with NCs, procedural computation, and algebra. Tutoring was not differentially efficacious as a function of students' mathematics difficulty status. The tutoring protocols proved transportable across sites.

KATTS: A Framework for Maximizing NCLEX-RN Performance

A key indicator of the quality of a nursing education program is the performance of its graduates as first-time takers of the NCLEX-RN. As a result, nursing schools are open to strategies that strengthen the performance of their graduates on the examination. The Knowledge base, Anxiety control, Test-Taking Skills (KATTS) framework focuses on the three components of achieving a maximum score on an examination. In KATTS, all three components must be present and in proper balance to maximize a test taker's score. By strengthening not just one but all of these components, graduates can improve their overall test scores significantly. Suggested strategies for strengthening each component of KATTS are provided. This framework has been used successfully in designing remedial tutoring programs and in assisting first-time NCLEX test takers in preparing for the licensing examination.

Investigating First-Year Chemistry Learning Difficulties in the South Pacific: A Case Study from Fiji

The learning difficulties for new entrant chemistry students from a multi-national, regional, tertiary education institution in the South Pacific were investigated using a purpose-designed diagnostic instrument. The instrument contained 25 items distributed across three themes: scientific reasoning, numeracy and scientific language literacy. The research findings suggest that the main learning difficulty facing these students is in numeracy with students able to interpret numerical data presented in graphical form and to complete rudimentary numerical calculations, but unable to use numerical data or perform calculations involving ratios. Targeted remedial tutoring, based on the results of this diagnostic test instrument, rather than content-driven extra tutorials, are suggested for remediation of learning difficulties.

Improving Media Writing with Ability Groups

Instructors sometimes mutter the following phrase after they've graded a stack of papers from a media writing class: Students can either write, or they can't. Does this mean that only good student writers can do well in a media writing class? And does it mean that we, as instructors, can have little effect on improving the ability of the not-sogood writer? The main purpose of this research is to examine whether remedial students who receive special instruction can improve their writing over the course of a semester to match the skill level of an effective student writer. Success in mastering news writing skills can be evaluated by students' handling of both content issues (identification of the lead, selection and organization of information, and accuracy in reporting facts) and mechanical issues (proper use of English grammar and Associated Press style). This study examines the use of ability grouping in a mass media writing course to improve students' deficits in both content and mechanical skills. Improvement in writing can be assessed by scores on tests of mechanical skills or by evaluating a piece of writing itself. In this study, news stories of 161 students are content analyzed at three points during a semester to measure changes in quality that may be influenced by ability grouping. In addition, students' scores on grammar and style tests are tracked throughout the semester to explore the relationship between performance on a grammar skills test and ability to write a complete story. Background Scholars have documented journalism students' lack of mastery in both content and mechanical skills. For example, studies by Williams (1983), Stone (1990), and Auman (1995) reported professors' and professionals' perceptions that journalism students' basic content and mechanical skills were deficient. To remedy these deficiencies, some journalism programs have required students to pass grammar and language proficiency tests before enrolling in journalism writing courses. John, Ruminski and Hanks (1991) reported that 36.4 percent of the 236 journalism programs they surveyed required tests of English writing skills, while Oukrop, Brown and Parsons reported that 31 percent of the 183 journalism programs they surveyed required language skills exams for entrance. Adams (1978) reported that faculty in large journalism programs, which enrolled 500 or more majors, generally believed that proficiency tests were better used to pinpoint students' weaknesses than to exclude students from courses. Some journalism programs have created writing labs or remedial tutoring programs in which students work to improve deficiencies in mechanical skills (Ryan and Pruitt, 1978; Hynes, 1978; Thayer, 1978; DiNicola, 1994), while other programs have standardized the content of all basic writing courses as a way to ensure students master a common set of skills (Blanchard, 1984). The success of these techniques in improving student writing has been mixed (Hynes, 1978; Thayer, 1978; Blanchard, 1984). In English writing courses at the elementary, secondary and college levels, teachers long have experimented with proficiency testing and remedial measures, including the use of ability groups, to improve students' skills. Ability groups place students in groups with students of similar ability. Studies that support ability grouping suggest students may perform better and teachers may be more effective in addressing students who share similar abilities (Oakes and Lipton, 1994). Some evidence, in fact, supports the use of ability grouping to challenge higher-level students and to improve the performance of students at all skill levels in high school (Newfield and McElyea,1983). On the other hand, ability grouping has been criticized for potentially ghettoizing students by race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic class, which then impairs their self-esteem. According to Slavin and Braddock (1994, p. …

Towards an Intelligent Tutoring System Architecturethat Supports Remedial Tutoring

For successful teaching to take place an intelligent tutoring system has to be able to cope with any student errors that may occur during a tutoring interaction. Remedial tutoring is increasingly viewed as a central part of the overall tutoring process, and recent research calls for adaptive remedial tutoring. This paper discusses the issues of remedial tutoring that have been proposed or implemented to support efficient remedial tutoring. These issues serve to uncover any underlying principles of remediation that govern remedial tutoring with intelligent tutoring systems. In order to incorporate these principles of remediation into intelligent tutoring systems development processes this paper continues with the development of a model that can be employed in the development of an intelligent tutoring system that is capable of offering remedial tutoring according to these principles. This model is a formalisation of remedial interventions with intelligent tutoring systems. To demonstrate how the model can be employed in developing an intelligent tutoring system, INTUITION, the implementation of an existing business simulation game, has been developed. This paper concludes with an illustration of how the model for remedial operations provides for remedial tutoring within INTUITION. The evaluation of INTUITION shows that the model for remedial operations is a useful method for providing efficient remedial tutoring.

Effects of Self-Correction on the Acquisition, Maintenance, and Generalization of the Written Spelling of Elementary School Children

We examined the effect of self-correction on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of written spelling of elementary school students attending an after-school clinic. Six students registered for remedial tutoring participated. During self-correction, students initially learned four proofreading marks and a procedure for using them that were subsequently applied as the students compared their spelling to a model. Results showed a functional effect between self-correction and improved student performance on target words. Using the self-correction procedure, the students spelled at least 98% of the target words accurately, maintained at least 85% of the correctly spelled words, and generalized at least 70% of the words at home, in context, and with word variations. Questionnaires administered to the students, their parents, and teachers indicated that students preferred self-correction. Parents noticed academic improvements in their child's spelling performance as well as positive changes in attitude toward school. Most teachers did not notice changes in spelling performance or attitude.

Regression toward the Mean and the Paired SampletTest

Abstract This article shows how one should properly conduct a paired-sample comparison of means in a test–retest situation where only a subset of the population retakes the exam. For example, suppose all who fail an exam are given the opportunity to retake a similar exam. If the usual paired-sample t test is conducted from data in this setting, the “regression effect” may lead to the incorrect conclusion that some intervention (such as remedial tutoring) has been effective in raising the scores when this is not necessarily true. A correct test when the mean score for the first exam is known is a test involving the intercept for a simple regression model.

The Effects of Computer-Assisted and Traditional Mastery Methods on Computation Accuracy and Attitudes

AbstractIn this study, the effects of instructional strategies designed to promote computation mastery were studied. These strategies included: traditional teacher-based mastery instruction with traditional teacher-based remedial tutoring, traditional mastery instruction with computerized remedial tutoring, computerized mastery instruction with computerized remedial tutoring; computerized mastery instruction with traditional remedial tutoring, and conventional nonmastery instruction. Analyses were conducted to examine the effects of mastery methods versus the conventional nonmastery methods and to study the effects of varied levels of traditional and computer-based mastery instruction. Mastery treatments were more effective than the nonmastery treatment for lesson achievement. Students performed best when the delivery system, traditional or computerized, was varied from initial instruction to remediation. No attitude differences were found between mastery and conventional instruction, but students receivi...

Cognitive training in academically deficient ADDH boys receiving stimulant medication.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 16-week intensive cognitive training program in stimulant-treated, academically deficient ADDH boys. Cognitive training focused exclusively on academic skills and tasks, and included attack strategy training as well as self-monitoring and self-reinforcement of problem-solving behaviors and response accuracy. Control groups included remedial tutoring plus medication, and medication alone. Despite the scope of the program, the results provided no support for the notion that academically based cognitive training ameliorates the performance and achievement of academically deficient ADDH youngsters. Further, this intervention did not enhance self-esteem or attributional perceptions of academic functioning. There was poor agreement between teacher ratings of academic competence and test score changes. The lack of concordance between measures, and the scarcity of academically deficient ADDH children are discussed.

Using Volunteer Mothers to Tutor Poor Readers Within a School Context

AbstractTen Year 3 children from a Sydney primary school, identified by testing as the poorest readers out of the five classes in the grade, received remedial tutoring using a set of highly structured remedial materials. The tutoring involved twenty one volunteer mothers, and each mother worked with a child for two sessions a week to allow the child to receive four sessions of tutoring each week. The tutoring sessions involved (1) drill of single sounds and digraphs (2) tutoring and practice of word attack skills, and (3) reading practice using an appropriate reader, with verbal comprehension questions relevant to the reader. The volunteers kept records of each child’s performance during each session. After an average of one term of tutoring, the children demonstrated considerable improvement on test gains in comparison with gains made by a control group from the same classes.

A Factorial Study of Tutoring Versus Classroom Instruction

Tutoring is one of the oldest variables in educational theory. Long before Emile, possibly before Plato, it was hypothesized to be superior to other instructional methods and class sizes. Despite this venerable history, tutoring as an educational variable has largely escaped empirical scrutiny in this century, due perhaps to its seeming impracticality. Despite practical constraints, however, supplementary or remedial tutoring is being increasingly employed within contemporary school systems with severely academically deficient children. Furthermore, the practicality of individual instruction has been increased in recent years by the advent of increased leisure time coupled with the realization that teacher training and experience do not appear to affect the amount children learn (Popham, 1971; Moody and Bausell, 1971). If teacher training and experience are not requisite for successful teaching, then it would appear that non-professional manpower might be tapped for tutoring services. Several programs, in fact, have been instituted in which non-professional tutoring plus classroom instruction have been compared to classroom instruction alone (e.g. Ellson, Harris, and Barber, 1968; Tannenbaum, 1968). Tutoring plus classroom instruction generally leads to increased (reading) achievement, although not always (Niedermeyer and Ellis, 1970). Unfortunately, since total instructional time is not controlled, this line of research does little to answer the theoretically and practically important question: does tutoring result in greater student achievement than does classroom instruction?