An Attempt to Analyze Mathematical Question-solving Processes Using STACK
Abstract: Mathematics e-learning systems can record students’ question-solving processes without being limited to multiple-choice questions. By looking at the mistakes made during the question-solving process, teachers can understand students’ learning processes. In recent years, learning analytics have been garnering interest as many teachers try to understand and optimize students’ learning processes and outcomes. In this study, we focus on the learning outcomes of mathematics e-learning systems that have not yet been, to our knowledge, comprehensively investigated. We analyzed question-solving processes using the data stored in the mathematics e-learning system STACK. We used the answers given to the question of differentiation between sin^nx and cos^nx as data. First, we divided students’ answers into “typical” types of incorrect ones and we found typical mistakes students tend to make (e.g., misunderstanding of differentiation of composite functions). Second, we looked at the question-solving process to get an idea of how students approached such problems. This is the first attempt to analyze question-solving processes to improve learning outcomes, based on information stored in a mathematics e-learning system.
Presider: Monique Woodard, Wilkes University