Experimental Design

This experiment is designed to test the hypothesis that when students solve quadratic

equations, they will only utilize one method, such as only using the quadratic formula, and not

alternate to different approaches given the various types of quadratic equations that might be

proposed. During this experiment, students will be administered an assessment that has the

students solve quadratic equations of varying types. The day following the quadratic equation

test, the students will then fill out a survey encompassing questions and opinions about quadratic

equations and solution methods. The survey will be paired with the test from each student,

which will then be evaluated for correctness, the types of methods used, and the frequency of

each method occurring.

Subjects

This study will be conducted in two different educational environments at the collegiate

level. Both subjects for this experiment will be enrolled at SUNY at Fredonia in Fredonia, which

is a university located in Western New York. There are approximately 5,800 students attending

SUNY Fredonia, which includes individuals from different counties throughout New York State.

The breakdown of the counties can be seen in figure 1 below.

Figure 1
County/Location Percent/Amount
Erie County 23.9%
Chautauqua County 18.4%
Monroe County 12.0%
Cattaraugus County 4.2%
Niagara County 3.5%
Onondaga County 3.0%
Other U.S. States 113 students
Other Foreign Countries 93 students
 The first group of students participating from this location will be enrolled in Survey of

Calculus I. Survey of Calculus I is an introductory course to differential calculus that

incorporates single variable functions that are applied to the different aspects of business and

economics. This course is available for students who need to fulfill a general education

requirement for mathematics, or for various majors such as business administration or biology.

There are approximately 35 students in this participating group. The genders and ethnicities will

vary.

The second group of students participating from this location will be enrolled in

University Calculus I. This is a course that provides students with an introduction to functions,

limits, continuity, derivatives and antiderivatives. This class is available to the students who are

enrolled in a major that relies heavily on mathematics, such as mathematics, chemistry, physics,

and mathematics education. Two sections of University Calculus I will make up this second

grouping. There are 13 students enrolled in one section, which will be taught by Dr. Teodora

Cox, and there are 19 students enrolled in the second section, which will be taught by Dr. Nancy

Boynton. Both courses require students to have a prerequisite of either four years of

mathematics in high school or University/Survey Precalculus.

The subjects participating in this experiment will be varying of different skill levels when

it comes to mathematics. All of the participants in this study will have graduated high school.

But the length of time that they have been out of a mathematics classroom and the skill level will

vary. The students enrolled in University Calculus I are expected to be at a higher skill level

mathematically than the students who will be taking Survey of Calculus I.

This experiment, for each group of subjects, will be conducted over a period of two days.

On the first day, the subjects will be administered the quadratic equation assessment. The

students will be given 20 minutes to complete the ten-question test. To avoid exhaustion, every

other row of students will receive test A where the other rows will receive test B. The only

difference between the two exams will be the order of the quadratic problems. This will reduce

the threat of students putting in less effort after doing numerous quadratic equation problems.

On the second day of the experiment, the students will be given a survey to complete in

class. This survey will ask the students various questions dealing with the methods used to solve

quadratic equations and their opinions on which method they prefer. Figure 2, shown on the next

page, is a diagram that represents how the experiment will be conducted. The assessment and

survey that will be utilized in this experiment are presented in figure 3 and figure 4.

Day 1 Day 2 Figure 2

Group 1 Quadratic Equation Test A Survey

Group 2 Quadratic Equation Test B Survey

Name: Date:

Quadratic Formula Assessment

Solve the following problems algebraically showing all work necessary to find the solutions.

1. x 2  4 x  5  0 2. 2 x 2  9 x  3  0

3. x 2  6 x  11 4. 4 x 2  32  36

5. 3( x 2  1)  x 6. x 2  5 x  7  0

7. x 2  4 x  6 8. 2 x 2  6 x  22  0

9. 9 x  14  x 2 10. 4 x 2  64  0
 Figure 4

Name: Date:

Survey I

1. List as many methods for solving quadratic equations as you can.

2. What is your favorite or preferred method listed above for solving quadratic equations?

3. Explain when you would use the method of completing the square when solving quadratic
equations.

4. Explain when you would utilize the quadratic formula when solving quadratic equations.

Quadratic Equation Assessment

The quadratic equation test contains 10 questions that instruct the students find solutions

to quadratic equations algebraically. The exam questions chosen can be split up into three

categories, which are based off of which method would be most efficient to use according to

Bosse (2004). The three categories are utilizing the method of completing the square, applying

the quadratic formula, and solve by factoring.

1. x 2  4 x  5  0

______________________________________________________________________________

Question one is an example of a quadratic equation that would fall into the completing

the square category. In order to utilize the completing the square method, the equation should

not be factorable. Once this is evident, it suffices to observe the coefficient in front of the x2

term, which must be 1. If the coefficient is anything but 1, then the student must divide the

entire equation by that coefficient. Also, when using this approach, the coefficient in front of the

x term must be divided by two, and then squared. Once this is done, it suffices to add this new

number to both sides. Taking a look at the above example, we can see that the coefficient in

front of the x2 is in fact one, and that the coefficient in front of the x term is even, thus making it

divisible by two. Therefore, the approach that the student should find most efficient would be

the completing the square method.

______________________________________________________________________________

6. x 2  5 x  7  0

______________________________________________________________________________

Question six is an example of a quadratic equation that would fall in the category of

applying the quadratic formula. This category encompasses all of the problems that do not fit in

the factoring category or the completing the square category. The most effective situation for the

student to be in when solving quadratic equations would be when the coefficient in front of the

x2 cannot be divided easily into the other numbers in the quadratic equation, or when the case

occurs where the coefficient in front of the x term is odd. When this number is odd, it is not
divisible by two, thus, if using the completing the square method, the student would have to use

algebra involving fractions, which may prove difficult to numerous students.

______________________________________________________________________________

9. 9 x  14  x 2

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The above example falls into the final category, which is solve by factoring. Students are

only able to utilize this method when the quadratic equation is factorable. Some questions, for

example, number 10 from figure 3, is another example that requires the student to first divide by

the leading coefficient before factoring.

Methods of Data Analysis

The data collected from this study will be both quantitative and qualitative. The

quantitative data will include the scores of the assessments, the total number of instances that a

certain method was used to solve each problem, and the percentage of students who found the

correct solution for each problem using the given methods. The qualitative data will be taken

from the survey, which will be the students’ preferences when it comes to choosing which

method to utilize when solving quadratic equations.

Analyzing The Quadratic Equation Assessment

At the conclusion of this experiment, the students participating will have completed a ten

question quadratic equation assessment. The only limitation the students have when completing

this exam is that they must solve algebraically. So the first factor that will be analyzed will be
which method each student used for each problem. This will provide an idea as to which method

is preferred by students.

Another way that these assessments will be analyzed will be whether or not the solutions

that the participants provided are correct or incorrect. This will allow the possibility to observe

the accuracy of each method for the selected problems. To score these problems, each problem

will be marked completely correct or wrong, there will be no partial credit while grading.

Following the marking of the individual problems, the assessment will be broken down

by analyzing each problem separately. Given each question, the percentage of accuracy will be

calculated for each method utilized. A chart will then be constructed to organize the data and to

easily be compared. A discussion of the accuracy of each method and the students’ preferences

when solving quadratic equations will follow.

Analyzing The Survey

Along with the quadratic equation assessment, a student survey will be analyzed. The

following day after the participants complete the exam, they will be given a short questionnaire

to determine their opinions and knowledge on the different methods of solving quadratic

equations. Their favorite approach to solving quadratic equations that they state on the survey

will be compared to their assessment and the number of times that it was utilized. The questions

pertaining to the most efficient usage of certain methods are to determine whether the students

know the advantages and disadvantages to using certain processes given different forms of

quadratic equations. These will be grouped according to whether the student has any relevant

information written down when answering the questions.