Achivement of 9th and 11th grade students in algebra and numbers : research based on data from the KUL - LCM project

Abstract

The project Learning Communities in Mathematics (LCM) is a project established by the Agder University College (HiA) in 2004 and supported by the Research Council of Norway. The aims of the project include to design and study mathematics teaching development through communities of inquiry between teachers from the school participating in the project and didacticians from HiA who research the outcome of the project. Part of the LCM project is a longitudinal study of students’ achievements in 4th, 7th, 9th and 11th grade. Groups of students in those grades, from seven schools participating in the project are given diagnostic tests at the beginning and at the end of the school year. The tests are designed to fit the goals of the mathematical curriculum for those grades. Those tests were first given to groups of students in the fall of 2004 and in the spring of 2005. The same tests were used again during the school year 2005 – 2006, but with new groups of students in 4th, 7th, 9th and 11th grade participating. The study reported in this thesis, focuses on the students’ results on the tests given in 9th and 11th grade, the school year 2005 – 2006. The necessary data for this study was coded and analysed. This data included: • Data 9th grade 9th grade students’ results to a test performed at the beginning and at the end of the school year 2005 – 2006: Test 1- the total number of students is 167; Test 2- the total number of students is 94. • Data 11th grade 11th grade students’ results to a test performed at the beginning and at the end of the school year 2005 – 2006: Test 1- the total number of students is 227; Test 2- the total number of students is 126. The big drop out of students is due to some misunderstanding - the second test was not performed in some of the classes in certain schools. The main aims of this study are first of all concerning the development during the school year 2005 – 2006 and second concerning the longitudinal perspective of the project: • What are the students’ achievements shown in the results on the tests? What is the development revealed in the students’ results for the school year? • How can the students’ results be compared with the results of the other studies in the LCM project? • What comparison can be made of the students’ results on selected tasks and the results on similar tasks from studies performed before the curriculum L97 took place? The study assesses to what extent the students in 9th grade of lower secondary school and 11th grade in upper secondary school acquired knowledge and skills that are essential for mathematical literacy. In this study the achievements of 9th and 11th grade students in algebra and number for the school year 2005 -2006 are compared with the achievements of the groups of students participating in the previous school year 2004 -2005. In addition for some of the tasks a comparison is made with results from other projects.