Ma and colleagues conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of an in-school computer-assisted learning (CAL) intervention on the math achievement of rural students in four poor counties/municipalities in Taiwan. These counties have lower socioeconomic conditions and students who lag their urban counterparts academically.
The study included 4th and 5th grade students from 190 classes in 95 randomly selected schools. The schools were randomly assigned to the treatment group and control, with 878 students in the treatment group and 962 students in the control group. Students in the treatment group were requested to complete at least one 30-minute CAL session per week for ten weeks during the spring semester of 2019. The CAL software provided tailored remedial exercises based on the material taught in the classroom. It was a game-based learning platform that offered one-on-one tutoring and timely feedback. On the other hand, the control group students did not have access to the CAL remedial support. A standardized math test was used to assess the students’ math abilities, while information about the students and teachers was obtained through a questionnaire survey. After adjusting for standard error and controlling for county effects, students’ and teachers’ characteristics, the regression analysis did not identify a significant effect of the intervention (ES = +0.01).
The lack of effectiveness of the intervention may be attributed to a high noncompliance rate, as students in the treatment group only used the CAL software for an average of 8 minutes per week. Post-hoc analysis results indicated that the top 20% of users (an average of 20+ minutes per week), performed significantly better than the rest of the students in the treatment group (ES = +0.18). Although the top 20% of users outperformed the students in the control group (ES = +0.16), the effect was not statistically significant.
The study findings highlight the potential of CAL being a tool for supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds, as long as the usage rate can be increased.
Source: Ma, Y., Zhang, X., Abbey, C., Hu, D., Lee, O., Hung, W., Chang, C., Wu, C.-I., Friesen, D., & Rozelle, S. (2023). Computer assisted learning and academic performance in rural Taiwan. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 0(0), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2023.2279167