Folder: Personal
Personalization Abstracts
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Anand, P. G., & Ross, S. M. (1987) 
Cordova, D. I. (1993) Davis-Dorsey, J. K. (1989) Herndon, J. N. (1988) Lopez, C. L. (1989) Miller, D. C., & Kulhavy, R. W. (1991) Murphy, L. O., & Ross, S. M. (1990) Ross, S. M. (1983) Ross, S., McCormick, D., M., Krisak, N., & Anand Ross, S. M., & Anand, P. G. (1987). A computer-b Ross, S. M., McCormick, D., & Krisak, N. (1985).
Anand, P. G., & Ross, S. M. (1987)
Anand, P. G., & Ross, S. M. (1987). Using computer-assisted instruction to personalize arithmetic materials for elementary school children., Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(1), 72-78.
Anand and Ross (1987) developed three versions of a computer-assisted lesson for teaching fractions to 96 fifth- and sixth-grade children. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: 1) personalized context, 2) concrete context, and 3) abstract context. Personalization was facilitated in this experiment by enabling students to change referents in story problems to personal information, such as personally favored people, places and activities. In the concrete version, names and events were hypothetical (realistic, but unfamiliar). The abstract condition was presented using general referents such as "objects" in place of specified things (such as candy bars). Mathematics achievement was assessed using a three-section posttest containing "context," "transfer," and "recognition" story problems.. Attitudes were also assessed on an eight-item Likert-scale asking about students reactions to their repective treatment. Despite some mixed results on the achievement subtests, the personalized treatment was shown overall to be the most effective method. With regard to attitudes, the personalized group also yielded a significant effect over the concrete group, but did not differ from the abstract group. JM
Cordova, D. I. (1993)
Cordova, D. I. (1993). The effects of personalization and choice on students' intrinsic motivation and learning. Unpublished PHD, Stanford University (0212).
Only one study in this review actually investigated the effects of computer-based personalization on percepts of self-efficacy.
Cordova (1993) used a personalization technique designed to enhance intrinsic motivation and mathematics learning for 72 fourth and fifth grade children. Participants were assigned to one five conditions in a 3 (levels of personalization) by 2 (levels of choice) design. The conditions consisted of 1) "generic fantasy/no choice," 2) "generic fantasy/choice," 3) "personalized fantasy/no choice", 4) "personalized fantasy/choice" and, 5) a "no fantasy" control group. The intervention consisted of a HyperCardª-based, computer program designed to teach children arithmetical rules such as order of operations and use of parentheses. Personalization was accomplished by allowing the user to change generic referents in an instructional fantasy story, such as character names, dates corresponding with the users' birthdays, teachers' names, and desired birthday gifts. Choice was accomplished by allowing the user to select the icons representing the user.
Children were posttested on a battery of attitudinal measures, including self-efficacy (which we will come back to), using 7-point Likert scales. They were also posttested on a related 16-item math test. There were no significant interactions between experimental conditions and students' gender or grade. Significant results show that students reported "relative enjoyment," and scored higher on the math test, for the personalization and choice features of the computer program, but there was no significant interaction between the two treatment variables.
Although the study was not specifically designed to alter percepts of efficacy, there were also no significant interactions between any conditions or the 15-item posttest self-efficacy. Cordova (1993) did, however, report significant main effects for both personalization and choice on two posttest measures of self-efficacy. One measure asked students how good they were at playing with computer games. The second measure asked about whether students would "vote" on a more challenging game in the future. Caution, however, should be exercised here in interpreting these results because self-efficacy was examined using global subject items, such as "How well can you learn math?", "How good do you think you are at playing these computer games?", and "Would you like this new game to be a little bit easier, the same or perhaps a little bit more challenging?" As stated earlier, Bandura (1986) has warned against this kind of global assessment of self-efficacy and has specified a micro-analytic strategy that investigates self-efficacy for specific, criterial tasks. Implications derived from this study, however, do support the notion that personalization increases enjoyment and learning, and may contribute as an influential source of math self-efficacy. JM
Davis-Dorsey, J. K. (1989)
Davis-Dorsey, J. K. (1989). The role of context personalization and problem rewording in the solving of math word problems. Unpublished EDD, Memphis State University.
In another study (Davis-Dorsey, 1989; Davis-Dorsey, Ross, & Morrison, 1991) using a variation of the Ross personalization paradigm researchers investigated whether personalization of mathematics word problems would benefit elementary school children. Personalization of context, in this case, was also combined in a 2 x 2 matrix with "problem rewording for explicitness." Treatments were administered as text.
Overall significant results show that second graders benefited from the combined intervention of personalization and problem rewording, but personalization itself was not significant. Fifth graders, on the other hand, benefited from the personalization intervention, but not problem rewording. Gender also yielded a significant main effect for fifth graders in favor of females. Implications of this study are that older children may benefit more from personalized context of mathematics story problems, having more developed schemata for processing information in a real-world context. JM.
Herndon, J. N. (1988)
Herndon, J. N. (1988). Achievement and continuing motivation under differing levels of personalized instruction. Unpublished PHD, Arizona State University.
Herndon (1988) sought to compare three levels of personalized instruction for understanding syllogisms. Participants were 144 high school seniors, assigned to one of three groups: 1) individual personalization, 2) group personalization, and 3) non-personalized. Students completed an inventory that asked students to report their most valued possessions, and other personal referents such as the names of people and things. Individual inventory items were then merged into personalized syllogisms for experimental groups one and two. All instructional versions were delivered to students as text.
There was no significant effect on posttest achievement (i,e. the number of correctly answered syllogisms). Significant results of the study, however, do show that the individual personalization approach had a positive effect of students' attitudes (i,e. whether the instruction appealed to students). There were also significant effects for the two personalization treatments on continuing motivation (i,e. whether students would like more syllogism instruction), but this variable should be viewed skeptically because it was based on one "yes" or "no" question. Still, what can be gleaned from this study is that personalized instruction may contribute to improved learner affect, which is a step beyond personalized testing only. JM.
Lopez, C. L. (1989)
Lopez, C. L. (1989). Levels of personalization and the achievement and attitudes of hispanic students. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Arizona State University.
Lopez (1989, 1992) demonstrated how personalization of mathematics word problems could improve the mathematics (one- and two-step arithmetical operations) achievement and attitudes of 123, rural, Hispanic, seventh graders in Southern Arizona. Participants were blocked by pretest score and gender, and assigned to one of three groups: 1) individualized personalization, 2) group personalization, and 3) non-personalized. Students then filled in biographical inventories, detailing familiar nouns and pronouns such as favorite kinds of ice cream and the names of friends. In the individualized treatment, each student received mathematics story problems in which the personal referents were merge with generic nouns and pronouns. In the group treatment, common and familiar referents of the majority were merge for one set of story problems for the entire group. In the non-personalized version, there was no attempt to familiarize the problems. Substitutions were made using a computer program, however the children received print versions of the story problems.
Results showed that both the individualized and group personalization treatments were significantly higher than the non-personalized version for two-step mathematics performance and attitudes; although, the treatment versions were not significantly different from each other. There was also a significant attitudinal effect for the individualized treatment only. Attitudinal items consisted of interest, liking, and preference questions. There was no gender effect.
Implications of the Lopez (1989, 1992) study suggest that personalization of mathematics story problems is an effective instructional design strategy for improving math achievement and attitudes. One interesting way to build upon this study, however, would be to provide the personalization treatments on computer, and to use personalization as an instructional method instead of as a testing method. The present study employs these variations. JM.
Miller, D. C., & Kulhavy, R. W. (1991)
Miller, D. C., & Kulhavy, R. W. (1991). Personalizing sentences and text, Contemporary Educational Psychologist, 16, 287-292.
Miller and Kulhavy (1991, p. 287) provide a lucid statement of how personalization may be operationally defined: "... we use the verb 'personalize' when referring to the act of using verbal modifiers and exemplars which have been lifted directly from an individual's own repertoire of life experience."
Murphy, L. O., & Ross, S. M. (1990)
Murphy, L. O., & Ross, S. M. (1990). Protagonist Gender as a Design Variable in Adapting Mathematics Story Problems to Learner Interests, Educational Technology, Research and Development v38 n3 p27-37 1990, 38(3), 27-37.
Murphy and Ross (1990) investigated whether gender may be an factor in student preferences and in solving mathematics story problems, using an integrated story line between story problems. The difference between this approach and personalization studies of word problems, is that each of the story problems contributed to larger, thematic story line. It was hypothesized that such an approach may establish continuity and maintain interest across problems. Participants, 252 eighth-grade students, were pre-sorted to groups in a rural/suburban, ability-level, assigned condition matrix. Various individual differences (e.g. ethnicity and standardized scores) were also looked at.
This study was also unique because it allowed participants to select from two gender-oriented, eight-problem, stories: "Angie's Travels" and "Mack's Trip;" however, the experimenters then assigned participants to one of three conditions: 1) preferred-gender, 2) nonpreferred gender, and 3) mixed gender. Names of characters, as well as pronouns "he" and "she" provided the treatments with a specific gender orientation. Two "mixed protagonist" treatment versions, "Angie-Mack" and "Mack-Angie," were also devised by replacing the first four problems or last four problems from each story. Significant variations on the problem-solving and attitude posttests significantly favored the preferred-gender treatment over the mixed-protagonist group, but neither these groups significantly differed from the nonpreferred gender group. Posttest results of problem-solving scores also revealed a gender effect in favor of girls, regardless of protagonist gender. Boys were significantly more likely to choose the masculine story.
Ross, S. M. (1983)
Ross, S. M. (1983). Increasing the meaningfulness of quantitative material by adapting context to student background, Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(4), 519-529.
[note: lists many related references to Mayer's theoretical writings]
Ross (1983) conducted two experiments to test the notion that adapting the context of instruction will benefit students. In one experiment, 51 college-age, preservice teachers were assigned to one of three groups: 1) adaptive context, 2) nonadaptive context, and 3) abstract context. In the adaptive context, participants were given statistics instruction on probability using explanations and examples from the domain of education. In the nonadative context, participants received the instruction from a medical-related perspective. From the abstract perspective, participants learned statistical rules and formulas without reference to any other content domain. Posttests included education, medical, and abstract items. ANOVA results of this experiment showed overall significant posttest results in favor of adaptive context over nonadaptive and abstract contexts on education items. Adaptive context was also significantly favored over abstract context on abstract items.
In a follow-up investigation, Ross (1983) sought to replicate the findings in the above study using 50 nursing students. Therefore, the medical domain was now the adaptive context. Results of complex comparisons, using the ScheffŽ method, showed adaptive context as superior to the others at the p <.10 level.
Results of the two Ross (1983) experiments showed that education students performed better in the education adaptive context, and nursing students performed better in the medical adaptive context. Implications of these results are that adaptive contexts are more effective design methods for learning quantitative material. One contributing reason for these phenomena may be that depth of learning is greater when new content is assimilated to prior knowledge structures. JM
Ross, S., McCormick, D., M., Krisak, N., & Anand
Ross, S., McCormick, D., M., Krisak, N., & Anand, P. (1985). Personalizing context in teaching mathematical concepts: Teacher-managed and computer-managed models, Educational Communications and Technology Journal, 33, 169-178.
Ross, S. M., D., M., Krisak, N., & Anand, P. (1985) elaborate on the model developed by Ross in students with nursing and education students. See Ross, McCormick and Krisak, 1985, for a more lucid account of this study.
Ross, S. M., & Anand, P. G. (1987). A computer-b
Ross, S. M., & Anand, P. G. (1987). A computer-based strategy for personalizing verbal problems in teaching mathematics, Educational Communications and Technology Journal, 35(3), 151-162.
In a subsequent investigation to the Anand and Ross (1987) study, Ross and Anand (1987) sought to compare findings from the first study, in which the instruction was delivered via computer, to printed versions of math story problems using essentially the same treatment design. Participants were 54 fifth- and sixth-graders.
Mathematics achievement in the Ross and Anand (1987) study was assessed using a three-section posttest containing "context," "transfer," and "recognition" story problems. Attitudes were also assessed. As in the Anand and Ross (1987) study, overall results on the achievement subtests showed the personalized treatment was most often a significant treatment condition, and was never surpassed by the other conditions. The overall attitude measure was not significant although item analyses mostly favored personalization. There was only one gender effect, which favored boys on the transfer subtest.
Implications of the two Anand and Ross studies described above to the present study are that personalization is effective in teaching mathematics and testing mathematics skill use. JM
Ross, S. M., McCormick, D., & Krisak, N. (1985).
Ross, S. M., McCormick, D., & Krisak, N. (1985). Adapting the thematic context of mathematical problems to students interests: Individual versus group-based strategies, Journal of Educational Research, 79(1), 245-252.
Ross, McCormick, and Krisak (1985) further examined the effects of personalization of statistical content on achievement and preferences of college education and nursing students in four experiments. The researchers hypothesized that allowing participants to choose their preferred thematic context of instruction (adaptive) versus being given their least preferred context (nonadaptive), would result in higher achievement by the adaptive group. They also sought to examine whether students in the nonadaptive context would suffer detrimental learning. Attitudes and recall of critical information were assessed by posttest questionnaire.
In experiment one, nursing students were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: 1) standard-adaptive (automatically given the medical context, 2) standard-nonadaptive (abstract context), 3) learner-control adaptive (given preferred choice of context), and 4) learner-control nonadaptive (given least preferred choice of context). The four instructional contexts were abstract, education, medical, and sports themes. Effects by group on achievement and recall were generally not significant. Item analysis of attitudes generally favored the adaptive context.
In experiment two, 50 education students were used in the same design as in experiment one. Significant results in this case favored the adaptive group, however, unlike the experiment with nursing students, there was no significant attitude effect.
The mixed results of the two combined studies suggest that personalization (adaptive context) can be an effective method for presenting statistical content to college students, but that this is not a foregone conclusion. JM
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