THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION ON LOW-ABILITY STUDENTS: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Over the years, many studies have shown that teaching through differentiation has led to positive academic outcomes. In a classroom setting, instructors can differentiate according to content, process or product based on student readiness, interest or learning profile. However, in a tertiary institution where content is curriculum driven, process is chiefly a lecture style of teaching and the product is usually a final written assessment, it can be challenging to execute differentiated instruction. This article presents a non-equivalent groups quasi-experimental research design study where differentiated instruction was implemented across a pre-university mathematics course. Prior to the study, all students completed a pre-test on mathematical concepts to determine their ability level. Students' mathematical ability in the groups ranged from highly proficient to extremely weak. The research study was then conducted over two batches: the first batch comprised of 191 students and were instructed using a differentiated approach, the second batch comprised of 228 students and acted as the control group. The differentiated approach was implemented only for a specific topic in the course, i.e. derivatives in calculus. Students in the experimental group were also given a questionnaire assessing their self-confidence and engagement level in class before and after the intervention. Academic achievement on that topic was assessed with a written examination at the end of the semester. Results indicated that there was no change in self-confidence and engagement level before and after the intervention. However, low ability students in the experimental group scored significantly higher in academic achievement for the particular topic but had a lower overall score than low ability students in the control group. There were no differences in academic achievement between the middle and high ability students. This study provides evidence that differentiated instruction has a positive effect on the academic achievement of low ability students.