THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONCRETE AND FORMAL INSTRUCTION WITH CONCRETE AND FORMAL OPERATIONAL BASIC MATHEMATICS STUDENTS (MINORITY)

In an attempt to understand why an increasing number of college students are entering remedial basic mathematics courses, this study turned to Jean Piaget's theory of intellectual development. An implication of the theory is that academic achievement is a function of both the individual's cognitive level and the manner by which he is taught.;Participants in the study were in a basic mathematics course (high school level) at Indiana University. Twenty of these students were categorized as concrete; twenty as formal. The two treatment groups were each composed of ten concrete students and ten formal students. One treatment group (concrete instruction) used concrete props to illustrate various concepts used in the addition of unit fractions; the other (formal instruction) relied upon traditional abstract definitions and rules.;The majority of students had very high pretest scores. This produced a ceiling effect on the post-test scores which resulted in insignificant difference scores. Therefore statistical analysis revealed no difference between the experimental groups and no conclusions could be reached concerning the experimental hypotheses.