METHOD AND EFFECTIVENESS OF AN INDIVIDUALIZED EXERCISE OF FUNDAMENTAL MATHEMATICS

This article describes a method used to provide mathematics students in colleges of engineering in Japan with supplementary exercises to aid in their learning. The impact of this effort is also described. An online support function enables instructional personnel to individualize the exercise for students whose abilities vary widely. Individualizing exercises helps students to understand a mathematical method used to solve a problem and also the mathematical idea or concept upon which the method is based. The program described here consists of activities that supplement those in the regular lesson. They are designed to help those students who failed to meet certain course objectives or to solve the problems given in the lesson. Students using the individualized program are allowed to select the problems from among the problem exercises available based on the course objectives that they have not yet satisfied. The online support function of the learning environment that the authors developed assists teaching personnel in the otherwise time-consuming preparation of individualizing these activities. Students determine how well they did on the objectives in the regular lesson by visting the Web page for the course. Information is provided on the impact of the activities on student performance in a fundamental mathematics course in the authors college.