Analyzing Student Usage and Outcome Data from a Randomized Experiment of Cognitive Tutor Algebra

代数涉及对STEM概念的进一步学习和在许多技术职业中的工作至关重要的数学。然而，许多高中生很难通过代数考试。认知辅导代数1(CTA1)是一门课程，包括教科书组件和旨在向学生提供个性化指导的自动化计算机应用程序。该项目将以检验CTA1有效性的随机对照实验的结果为基础。研究人员将通过检查学生在使用该程序时的行为和进展日志、教师调查数据和学生成绩数据中的模式，来研究CTA1实现其效果的机制。该项目将使用贝叶斯统计模型来推断是否存在解释积极学习结果和课程使用之间关系的因果模型。PI将使用一种特定形式的中介分析--鲁宾因果模型--来开发和测试假设，即学生在使用CTA1时会经历什么，以及在没有CTA1的情况下他们会经历什么。这一分析方法支持确定治疗任务(CTA1)和结果(学生成绩)之间关系的中介变量。这项研究还测试了一种特殊形式的中介分析的使用，即主体分层，以确定其在进行此类分析时的效用。将审查多种中介模式，以确定教育研究人员如何开发更好的实验研究研究。

Algebra addresses mathematics that is crucial for further study of STEM concepts and for work in many technical careers. Yet many high school students struggle to pass Algebra. Cognitive Tutor Algebra 1 (CTA1) is a curriculum that includes both textbook components and an automated computer application that is designed to deliver individualized instructions to students. This project will build on the findings of a randomized control experiment that examined the effectiveness of CTA1. The researchers will study the mechanisms by which CTA1 achieves its effect by examining patterns in logs of students' actions and progress while they use the program, teacher survey data and student achievement data. The project will employ Bayesian statistical models to infer if causal models exist that explain the relationship between positive learning outcomes and the use of the curriculum.The PIs will use a specific form of mediation analysis, the Rubin Causal Model, to develop and test hypotheses about what the students would have experienced with CTA1 versus what they would have experienced in its absence. This analysis methodology supports the identification of mediating variables on the relationship between a treatment assignment (CTA1) and an outcome (student achievement). The study also tests the use of a particular form of mediation analysis, principal stratification, to determine its utility in conducting such analyses. Multiple mediation models will be examined to determine how educational researchers might develop better experimental research studies.