Rote learning in the age of technology: A quantitative study of a career and technical high school and the practical use of basic skills

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to investigate the use of rote learning in basic skills of mathematics and spelling of 12 high school students, from a career and technical high school, in an effort to learn if the pedagogy of rote fits in the frameworks of today’s education. The study compared the accuracy of students’ abilities, before and after a treatment, in the pedagogy of rote learning. The posttest t-test revealed a decline in accuracy. The findings suggested students relied on technology and showed no improvement with the use of rote for retaining correctly spelled words and multiplication tables. The resulting information from the t-test showed no significant difference in multiplication and the use of technology to assist in problem solving. The results for the math t-test and the spelling t-test showed the p-value was less than the alpha .05 level, which resulted in the rejecting of the hypothesis. The t-test for math was 0 for the posttest and the pretest with technology. The t-test was .32 for the pretest in math without technology. The t-test for spelling was 0 for the posttest and the pretest t statistic without technology was .03 and .56 with technology. Results from the study considered the efficacy of students as a component to the learning process. The efficacy of students rose through the treatment, however though there was no significant improvement in accuracy through the posttest score results