The Evaluation of Two Mathematics Tools Within a 21st Century Framework

Why Math?

The Purpose

My purpose was to see if changing traditional math teaching and implementing two 21st Century math tools would improve students' engagement and achievement in math.

Research Questions

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• Are interactive notebooks an effective way of engaging students?
• To what degree does using an adaptive iPad app and interactive notebooks improve students' achievement?
• How effective are interactive notebooks and an adaptive math app at improving students' attitude towards math?

Interactive Notebooks

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Front Row

Review of the Literature

3Rs vs 4Cs

Critical Thinking

Creativity

Communication & Digital Literacy

Collaboration

Methodology

The Setting and Participants

• The study took place in a Grade 6 class
• 25 students participating
• 14 Boys and 11 Girls
• 10 First Nations, 5 Indo Canadian & 10 Caucasians
• 2 learning disabled with IEPs
• 7 students with academic service plans
• 5 identified at risk

Instrumentation

• Engagement Observation Checklist
• Front Row Reports
• Math Profile Assessment
• Pre and Post Surveys

Design Procedures

• Mixed approach with qualitative and quantitative data
• Entry into field - permission from superintendent, principal, parents and students
• Ethical Considerations with 2 completed ethics courses (NIH and TCPS 2: Core)

Procedures

Traditional Teaching

• 2 weeks of traditional teaching with 2 observations per week
• Math profile assessment during week 2
• Survey #1 given at the end of the second week

Interactive Notebooks

• Completed 2 entries per week
• Engagement observations done for a total of 5 minutes per class
• Every other week, an independent observer recorded student engagement

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Front Row

• Front Row assessment to set a baseline for each student
• Front Row recorded student time on task as well as grade level improvement
• Students had 2-3 times per week during guided math to work on the app
• Students completed a final Math Profile Assessment
• Students completed the post survey

Data Analysis

Question #1

On-Task Behaviour - Mean of 60 Observations per Session

Question #2

Front Row

Front Row Numbers

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Question #3

Pre and Post Survey Results

Likert-Scale Attitude Questions

• Attitude 1-Confidence
• Attitude 2-Enjoyment
• Attitude 3-Collaboration
• Attitude 4-Technology

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Open Response Findings

Interactive Notebook Findings

Front Row Survey Findings

Other Survey Findings

Student Needs for Success in Math

Favourite Ways to Learn - Collaboration

Favourite Ways to Learn - Technology

What Would Make Math More Interesting?

Recommendations for Further Research

• Math Profile Assessment with a similar academic group
• Further investigation on 21st century skills

Personal Action Plan

• ProD workshops on iPads in the classroom
• ProD workshops on Interactive Notebooks
• Carry on with personalized instruction through PBL

"The principal goal of education is to create [individuals] who are capable of doing new things, not just simply repeating what other generations have done." -Piaget