This presentation shows the details of the study undertaken during one our graduate courses to examine the effects of using a mobile app in a mathematics classroom

1. By: Ariel Eller, Cameron Nunan, Murat
Akarsu, and Uzma Abdul Sattar Shaikh
Purdue University
EDPS 533
Spring 2014

2. The purpose of the study is:
 To examine the efficacy of using a digital technologies app
(Wolfram Alpha) as a pedagogical tool for teaching students to
plot quadratic equations.
 An experimental design used.
 Control group (no tech) and Experimental group (tech)
 Traditional classroom approach and Wolfram Alpha app.

3. Advantages use of technology:
 Technology has had a powerful role in educational
advantages such as ubiquity, portability, and
flexibility for collaborative learning projects (Park,
2008).
 Technology can enhance educational quality, make
learning and teaching more engaging, and provide
access to real life applications of the subject (Attard &
Curry, 2012; Souter, 2001; Henderson & Yeow, 2012).
 Mobile devices as powerful tools

4. Disadvantages use of technology:
 Lack of experience
 Technical problems
 Cost of technological tools is expensive
(Meche, Ross, and Vincent, 2002; Merrill, 2001; Henderson & Yeow,
2012; Franklin & Peng, 2008 ).

5.  Wolfram Alpha can be accessed independently on smart
phones, tablets or computers (Dimiceli, Lang, Locke, 2010).
 Easy to calculate mathematical equation as a computation
engine
 Easy to draw parabolic graphs.

6. A set of power point slides which contained:
 Real time applications of quadratic equations
 Stepwise Derivation of the Quadratic Formula
 Sample Solution for a given quadratic equation
 Sample Graph for a given quadratic equation

7. Practice Test:
 Four questions to identify the correct graph (out of four options) for a
given quadratic equation
 Three questions to solve for the roots of quadratic equations
Posttest:
 Three questions to solve a quadratic equation
 Two questions to plot a quadratic equation on a graph
 One worded problem to check if they could translate their knowledge of
quadratic equation to solve a real time problem

8. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
PRE PCT PST
Mean Scores of Control & Experimental Groups
Control Experiment

9.  We found a significant difference between the scores of the
practice tests between the control PCTc (M ± SD:
35.4188±39.27758) and experimental PCTe (M ± SD:
80.9571±22.41787) groups, ind.(13) =-2.699, p=.018, d=-
1.39695.
 From this comparison we can draw two conclusions:
 Both methods appear to be equally as effective as determined
from the final scores
 While the app helps students perform better on tests, their
performance suffers without it
 The app does not help the students to better understand the
material; it merely reduces mistakes and time required

10.  Small Sample Size. Hence, findings cannot be
generalized to a broader community.
 Participants had less amount of time to
familiarize with the app.
 Two back to back Math related studies may
have induced a mental fatigue among
participants.

11.  http://www.merga.net.au/documents/Attar
d_&_Curry_2012_MERGA_35.pdf
 http://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/
hicss/2012/4525/00/4525a078.pdf