Hint Feedback vs. No Hint Feedback
N middle school math students participated in this randomized controlled trial. At the start of the assignment, students were randomly assigned to receive Hint Feedback, or No Hint Feedback for the first three questions in the assignment. These two conditions were made up of 12 subgroups: Six linear iterations of the experimental hint condition, and six linear iterations of the no hint control condition. These iterations were designed to vary the order in which mathematical content was provided to reduce the likelihood of cheating while still allowing researchers to compare conditions across controlled content. Within each condition, students had to accurately answer 3 consecutive questions to move on to the posttest. All students received a uniform posttest regardless of condition, allowing researchers to examine differential learning gains. The research design was as follows:
Experiment - Hint Feedback
The first three questions presented to the student are similar to the one below. Note that in the lower right corner, the button for available feedback says "Show hint 1 of 2."
Control - No Hint Feedback
The first three questions presented to the student are similar to the one below. Note that in the lower right corner, the button for available feedback says "Show answer."
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When a student requests the first hint, they are shown the following steps on how to calculate slope.
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When a student requests the answer, it opens the same way a hint would, but only tells the student the correct answer to allow them to proceed to the next question.
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If the student is still stuck and they request the 2nd hint, they are provided a worked solution to the problem, which includes the correct answer. In the example below, this worked example was presented using text as well as a video walkthrough.
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In this condition, the student does not receive any additional help from the tutor in the form of feedback or instruction. They are simply provided correctness feedback on their answer attempt (binary, correct or incorrect), and are able to access the answer to move on to the next question.
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Authors. (Under Review). <Paper Title>. Submitted to LAK 2016.