I wrote a literature review last semester about the effect of calculators in the math classroom. One of the articles that I used was: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=144961131&Fmt=3&clientId=12354&RQT=309&VName=PQD
This article focuses on graphing calculators. (I don't think the link is working. I got the article through Sage's Library and I can't figure out how to get the link to go through. Sorry.)
Summary: The researchers, Thompson and Senk worked with students using two different curricula to teach the same mathematics course. One of the curricula was a traditional algebra curriculum and the other was a new reformed algebra curriculum. The new reformed curriculum involved the use of graphing calculators and the traditional curriculum did not use graphing calculators. The study used four math classes and matched them so that two of the classes received the new curriculum and two did not. All four classes were taught for one school year and given a test at the end of the year. The results of the exam were compared with the type of curriculum that was used. The outcome of the tests showed that the students in the new curriculum that used calculators performed better than those who were exposed to the traditional curriculum that did not use calculators. The differences between the scores of the students in the two curricula were found to be statistically significant
Review: Although the article suggests that using graphing calculators allowed students to perform better on their final exam, there are many problems with the study that should be used to lightly interpret the results. The biggest problem that I found was that there were different teachers for the classes. This means that there was no control over how the teachers taught the students, and that graphing calculators might not be the only reason the students perfomed better. What I conclude then, is that a curriculum that involves graphing calculators (among other things) helps students perform better.
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2 comments:
Trina you said, "The outcome of the tests showed that the students in the new curriculum that used calculators performed better than those who were exposed to the traditional curriculum that did not use calculators". This was interesting that an actual study was done on students. My only question in regards to this was, were students' donig better because the calculator gave them a more in depth undestanding of the material or did the use of the calculator just cut down on common careless mistakes?
I see you point Trina. Basically you are saying that since different teachers were used in the study, there is a possibility of extraneous variables that may alter the results of the study. Do you have any ideas on how to study this topic and eliminate many of the extraneous variables?
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