The Impacts of Three Educational Technologies on Algebraic Understanding in the Context of COVID-19

AERA Open. 2023 Apr 21:9:23328584231165919. doi: 10.1177/23328584231165919. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

The current study investigated the effectiveness of three distinct educational technologies-two game-based applications (From Here to There and DragonBox 12+) and two modes of online problem sets in ASSISTments (an Immediate Feedback condition and an Active Control condition with no immediate feedback) on Grade 7 students' algebraic knowledge. More than 3,600 Grade 7 students across nine in-person and one virtual schools within the same district were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Students received nine 30-minute intervention sessions from September 2020 to March 2021. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses of the final analytic sample (N = 1,850) showed significantly higher posttest scores for students who used From Here to There and DragonBox 12+ compared to the Active Control condition. No significant difference was found for the Immediate Feedback condition. The findings have implications for understanding how game-based applications can affect algebraic understanding, even within pandemic pressures on learning.

Keywords: algebra; classroom research; educational games; educational technology; experimental research; game-based learning; hierarchical linear modeling; mathematics education; middle schools.