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A Comparison of 1:1 Flashcards and a Tablet App on Student Mathematics Proficiency

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Abstract

There is a dearth of research comparing the effects of iPad technology and paper-and-pencil-delivered interventions on student mathematics outcomes. Nine studies have compared intervention modalities such as computer-mediated instruction and teacher-mediated instruction to examine differences in student performance, but only two of these have used iPad technology to do so and neither examined student fact fluency as the outcome. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an iPad-based versus a paper-and-pencil-based flashcard intervention on the basic fact fluency of four second-grade boys within a Midwestern US charter school. Using an adapted alternating treatments design, three conditions were compared: iPad-delivered flashcards, paper-and-pencil-based flashcards, and a control condition. The results suggest that for three of four students, there was no difference in gains between treatment conditions, and both were more successful than the no-treatment control. Descriptive data on the acceptability and number of opportunities to respond between intervention modalities are described.

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Acknowledgements

The contents of this manuscript were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H325D160016. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Sarah J. Allen, Ph.D.

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  1. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, 56 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Kourtney R. Kromminga & Robin S. Codding

  2. Department of Applied Psychology, Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, 404 International Village, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Robin S. Codding

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  1. Kourtney R. Kromminga
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Correspondence to Kourtney R. Kromminga.

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All procedures performed in the present study were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the participating University’s institutional review board. This study met the following category for exemption: (1) research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings, involving normal educational practices. (Both the procedures involve normal education practices, and the objectives of the research involve normal educational practices.). IRB ID: STUDY00001337.

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Kromminga, K.R., Codding, R.S. A Comparison of 1:1 Flashcards and a Tablet App on Student Mathematics Proficiency. J Behav Educ 30, 578–603 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-020-09392-4

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