Investigating the Use of Mathematics Games and a Second Mathematics Class for Struggling High School Students

Abstract

Only one-third of middle school students in Hawai‘i demonstrated proficiency in grade-level mathematics in 2019. This means that most students enter high school without a strong knowledge of foundational mathematics concepts that are essential for success in high school mathematics courses. This case study investigated two instructional intervention tools designed to help high school students who were struggling in mathematics strengthen their knowledge of and skill in foundational mathematics content. This study utilized two intervention tools, a double dose program where students received two full periods of mathematics instruction, and conceptual mathematics games. The tools were implemented to ninth grade students in a mathematics classroom at private high school in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. The primary focus of the study was to investigate the effects of the intervention tools on progress monitoring assessment scores for struggling learners. However, this study also investigated the effects on the assessment scores for non-struggling learners. While the findings showed that the use of games had a positive effect on scores for struggling learners, the double dose program did not show strong positive results for either struggling or non-struggling students. Implications for a future study are to analyze scores on games and observe the conditions of the supplementary course to investigate the effect on assessment scores.