Math Test Scores and Attitudes

Hodges (1985) identified the Design preferences of seventh and eigth grade remedial mathematics students in an urban ghetto. Using a repeated measures experimental design, she assigned adolescents who liked to study in their conventional wooden, steel, or plastic seats, and those who indicated they could concentrate more easily on the floor, on a rug, or in an easy chair, to both environments - learning and being tested in the Formal and the Informal Design.

Students who were taught and tested in their preferred environment achieved significantly higher mean test scores (p < .001) and demonstrated statistically more positive attitudes (p < .001) than those in the mismatched conditions. In fact, the youngsters who preferred the Informal Design evidenced higher achievement when permitted to learn and take their test informally than the youngsters who preferred the traditional classroom and were taught and tested in it. Those findings suggest that:

1. junior high school math underachievers may not be matched with complementary instructional environments;
2. a testing situation can impact significantly upon adolescents’ academic performance and attitudes;
3. low math achievers learn differently from each other and, consequently, should be matched with their learning style preferences; and
4. educators need to re-evaluate how remediation programs are implemented in both their instructional and testing approaches for selected secondary students.