| This study investigated the relationship between student personality patterns and achievement in computer-assisted and traditional lecture Intermediate Algebra (MAT 1033) classes at a Central Florida community college. Students in five computer-assisted sections and six traditional lecture sections, all meeting in the morning, completed the Long/Dzuiban Checklist (1998) on reactive behavior patterns. This checklist determined their personality types and traits as defined by Long. The four personality types identified were aggressive-independent, passive-independent, aggressive-dependent and passive-dependent. Crosstabs were done with the Long types and gender, ethnicity, age and the final examination grade and achievement in the course.;Findings showed that the largest percentage of the community college students in the study self-identified themselves as aggressive-independent and the smallest percentage self-identified themselves as passive-dependent. A large majority of students identified as aggressive-dependent were females while a large majority of students identified as passive-dependent were males. The survey revealed the 76.9% of the students in these eleven sections were under 21 years of age. The percentage of students that were successful in the course (a final grade of A, B, or C) for all four types in both modes of instruction was representative of their percentages in the original sample. Recommendations were made for using this instrument at different levels of mathematics and to follow students from one mathematics course to the next sequential course. |
