補習數學有用嗎？一個「反事實」的分析

Abstract

補習是學校教育體制外一種補充性或補救性的學習活動，被視爲有利於教育成就取得的一種手段。本文主要研究目的在探討國三學生參與數學科補習是否有效、效用多大，以及什麼類型學生補習的效益最大等三個研究議題，爲了回答這些議題，我們也會暸解誰會去參與補習。本文分析資料取自台灣教育長期追蹤資料庫（Taiwan Education Panel survey, 簡稱TEPS）第一波和第二波國中樣本資料，經整理後共得11373個有效樣本數。運用邏輯迴歸，以及「傾向分數配對」(Propensity Score Matching)方法從事「反事實」的分析後發現：（一）除了社經背景因素外，學習環境愈佳和個人先備能力愈高者，愈可能在國土時參與數學補習；（二）數學補習有其正面功效，但對於國三參與補習者而言，其效果值並不人，約爲0.125個標準差；（三）國三參加補習者中，如果補習的傾向分數越高、先備能力愈好，或是父母教育程度愈高者，其數學補習的平均效果比較小。

Private \"cram schools\" are prevalent throughout Taiwan, with students attending (or working with private tutors) after regular school hours to gain a competitive edge and to prepare for national high school and university entrance examinations. The authors address the issues of whether or not math cramming achieve the desired results, the strength of the average positive effect, and what kinds of students benefit the most and least from math cramming. In addition, we analyze factors influencing student participation in math cramming. Our data are taken from the 2001 and 2003 waves of the Taiwan Education Panel Study. We use propensity score matching to estimate the average treatment effect of math cramming on a sample of Taiwanese ninth grade students. Our findings indicate higher chances of participation in math cramming for students from families with higher socioeconomic status, who enjoy better learning environments, and who have better prior math ability. Overall counterfactual analysis results indicate that for the students in our sample, the average treatment effect of math cramming was positive but small (SD approximately 0.125). Our results also show negative correlations between effects of math cramming and greater likelihood of attending cram school, higher parental education level and prior math ability.