Does a curriculum integration intervention to improve the mathematics achievement of students diminish their acquisition of technical competence? An experimental study in agricultural mechanics

The purpose of this study was to empirically test the hypothesis that students who participated in a contextualized, mathematics-enhanced high school agricultural power and technology curriculum and aligned instructional approach would not experience significant diminishment in acquisition of technical skills related to agricultural power and technology compared with those students who participated in the traditional curriculum. This study included teachers and students from 38 high schools in the state of Oklahoma (18 experimental classrooms; 20 control classrooms). Students were enrolled in an agricultural power and technology course in the spring semester of 2004. The total number of students who participated was 447 (206 experimental; 241 control). The experimental design employed was a posttest only control group design. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the study’s null hypothesis. The math-enhanced agricultural power and technology curriculum and aligned instructional approach did not significantly diminish (p > .05) students’ acquisition of technical skills as measured by the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) Agriculture Mechanics examination. A one-year replication of the study described is recommended.