Application of the pilot study outcomes to the main study

This research study benefitted in various ways from the pilot study: and this section will discuss the ideas suggested by its results.

The preliminary data collected through the pilot study suggested that the use of peer tutoring, with or without manipulatives, affected the students’ learning of mathematics, which encouraged the researcher to continue the project and to extend the experiment to a large-scale sample, given the pilot’s indication that it would be feasible, worthwhile and successful. The research protocol was tested through the pilot study, and the changes required for the main study, were identified, observed

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and taken into account, as were the logistical problems which could have arisen through using the proposed methods. Furthermore, the sampling technique was tested to establish its effectiveness for the research.

This section will discuss whether or not the main applications were changed as a result of the pilot study.

4.3.2.1 The study sample

The results of the pilot study suggested that fourth year students (aged 10-11) were a suitable choice, as stated in the research proposal. Students in that age range are capable of understanding the various learning techniques applied in this study. The change in the year 4 curriculum, as discussed in the methodology chapters, made this year the best choice for the study sample.

4.3.2.2 The intervention period

The pilot study results suggested that the period of time allocated for the implementation of the various learning techniques, which had to be long enough to test the students’ attainments and their attitudes towards learning mathematics, fitted both the intervention and the financial budget and was therefore sufficient for the purpose of the study. Hence, the researcher decided to use the same timescale as he had used in the pilot study for the main study. However, as the other research instruments were not tested in the pilot study, this timescale could not apply to them.

4.3.2.3 Time limit per session

The researcher drew from the literature a proposed session length of 30 minutes. The time per session for the research groups was thus set at 30 minutes, once a week. The researcher used the 30-minute session time in the pilot study; and since the results of that study suggested that this was long enough for the purpose of the study, the decision was made to continue with 30 minutes per session for the main study intervention.

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4.3.2.4 Research groups

The researcher decided to use four research groups for the final intervention, as used in the pilot study. The pilot study results suggested that there were differences between the various groups involved in this RCT, and those differences needed to be assessed in the main study.

4.3.2.5 The researcher training for the research processes

The researcher learned to improve the management and communication skills necessary to take the greatest advantage of the limited time available for the study, skills which helped him enlist the authority of the participating teachers and encourage them to strive willingly to be important and effective participants in the study. Among the most important skills to be developed were those of personal communication with teachers, and being able to answer their questions at almost any time of the day.

The researcher developed an organisational system necessary to manage the large quantity of paperwork generated, and to facilitate the smooth input of data to the SPSS. Each student had a file in which to keep all his tests and questionnaires. Each class had a larger file in which to keep all the students’ files and each group had a box in which to keep the class files. This organisational system developed after the researcher felt the need for such system after the difficulties faced in managing the pilot study papers.

Managing the data in the SPSS - learning how to enter data into it, administer the necessary tests and report the results - were all lessons learned during the pilot study. The pilot study therefore comprised important practical training for the researcher’s management of implications and analysis in the main study.

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4.3.2.6 Instruments

The importance of conducting the pilot study had become obvious by the end of this RCT, as the researcher was able to identify more factors related to the intervention that should be observed, and developed the required instruments to assess these new factors. One such factor was the students’ attitude towards their learning partner and another was the students’ social relationship developments. The observational visits undertaken in the pilot study suggested that these two factors should be assessed in the main study, given their significance and the importance of their role in relation to the intervention. By including them, the researcher might further be able to examine whether or not the students’ social relationships and attitudes towards their learning partners could predict their attainment scores.

One of the most significant benefits was the sense of the importance of using qualitative research methodology beside quantitative research methodology, as can be seen at the end of this RCT. In this case, undertaking interviews with teachers and students was very helpful in obtaining as much as in-depth information and explanations regarding the issues related to the intervention as possible. The pilot study played a significant role in developing and testing the research instruments, and this section will give a brief idea of the effect of the pilot study on the development of these instruments.

Attainment Test

The researcher developed a criterion-referenced attainment test that focused on the mathematics units used in the pilot study. Although the test was piloted by a number of mathematics teachers, and 47 students took the test as a pilot group to assess its suitability, the reliability of the test was low (Cronbach’s alpha 0.33 with a group of 47 Saudi Arabian students aged 11 years). Therefore, the researcher decided to

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search for another test. More information about the replacement test will be mentioned in Chapter Five (the methodology chapter).

Attitude of students towards mathematics

A 20-item questionnaire, to investigate changes in students’ attitudes to mathematics during the study, was also administered. The questionnaire was translated and slightly adapted (to suit the context) from a questionnaire previously designed by Pell and Jarvis (2001). It was previously adapted for use in a mathematical context by Thurston et al. (2010). The reliability of the Arabic version was analysed (Cronbach’s alpha 0.80 with a group of 39 Saudi Arabian students aged 11). Therefore, the researcher decided to continue using this instrument.

After further reading of the literature, and making observational visits to the classes involved in the pilot study, the researcher felt the importance of developing two more research instruments to examine the effect of using peer tutoring with or without manipulatives on both the students’ attitudes towards their learning partners and the development of their social relationships.

The Attitude Towards Learning Partners questionnaire

The researcher decided to use a 20-item questionnaire to investigate changes in students’ attitudes towards their learning partners during the study. The questionnaire was translated and slighted adapted (to suit the context) from a questionnaire previously used in a mathematical context by Thurston et al. (2012). More information can be found about this questionnaire in Chapter Five.

The Sociometric Questionnaire

The researcher decided to use, both before and after the experiments, a sociometric instrument that aimed to discover the effect of using peer tutoring and manipulatives, both separately and together, on the students’ social relationships. More information on this questionnaire can be found in Chapter Five.

151 The qualitative data

The pilot study in the present thesis revealed the importance of evaluating the process used in the RCT in order to ensure the quality of the interventions, as suggested by Oakley et al. (2006) and Connolly (2009). Through the pilot study, the researcher decided to use qualitative methodology to obtain in-depth information on teachers’ and students’ perspectives of using peer tutoring and manipulatives, both separately and together, in learning mathematics. Both teachers and students were interviewed. In addition, the researcher decided to use observation visits to the classes concerned.