Effect of layered curriculum on students' academic achievement, problem solving and attitude

The objective of this study is to research the effect of the layered curriculum method on students' achievement, problem solving capacity and their attitude towards the math course in teaching geometric objects to the sixth grade students. This research was implemented with mixed method. The layered curriculum was implemented for the students of the experimental group while the typical mathematic lessons contained in the curriculum was taught to students of the control group. For both groups, the geometric objects achievement test, attitude scale for math lesson and problem solving inventory, all of which had been prepared by the researcher, were applied to the both groups as pre-test. These were applied to them as post-test following the experimental procedure. 18 days after the completion of this experimental procedure, the geometric objects achievement test were implemented as the retention test to the experimental and control group in order to measure the permanency. In order to analysis the research data, one sample t-test, paired student t-test and independent t-test, Mann Whitney U test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and ANCOVA were used. Besides, at the end of the teaching process, some voluntary students among the experimental group were asked to express their opinions on layered curriculum program. The students of experimental group were asked to keep a diary during the experimental process, too. According to the findings of this research, it is concluded that layered curriculum increases the academic achievement more than other suggested teaching methods in math education. Furthermore, it is confirmed that the subjects learnt loses their permanence at the experimental and control group as time passes by, and there is no any difference between them in terms of permanency. When the attitude of the students towards math is assessed, it is found that a significant increase emerged in the experimental group. No significant increase was observed at the control group, however. Therefore, it is concluded that layered curriculum program is more effective to improve the attitude of the students towards math than the method implemented for the control group. In this study, another dependent variable assessed to understand the effect of layered curriculum is the change in problem solving skill. According to a finding acquired in this research, layered program positively affects the problem solving skill of the students as compared with other methods applied in math courses. The experimental group students interviewed delivered positive opinions regarding layered curriculum. These students think that layered curriculum is a method in which they may develop themselves according to their individual speed, and improves their awareness to be successful, ensures the cognitive learning, enable them to have problem solving ability and develop a positive attitude towards problem solving and math lesson. In addition, the students believe that the classroom environment is positively affected by layered curriculum through the group works though this sparks off indiscipline. Our findings suggest that layered curriculum, instead of other methods used in math learning, may be given preference in teaching the geometric objects in order to increase academic achievement, develop a positive attitude towards math and problem solving. The layered curriculum may be used along with different methods to ensure the permanency of the lessons learnt. Based on the opinions expressed by the students regarding the layered curriculum, it is suggested that this program may be applied at each level of the classroom as it particularly appeals to all talents and students' level in the classrooms where the individual differences are more. Keywords: Layered Curriculum, Math Teaching, Problem Solving Skill, Problem Solving, Attitude towards Math, Revised Bloom Taxonomy, Aligned Curriculum.