In this project, we examined the efficacy of an online interactive game, FH2T compared to active control and two other educational technologies, ASSISTments and DragonBox 12+ across four intervention conditions on middle school students’ algebraic understanding. The study consisted of 4,092 7th-grade students’ conducted in a randomized control trial in a large U.S. school district. The data comprises over 400 measures, including student demographics, assessments, and students’ actions.
Students using FH2T and DragonBox had higher posttest scores than the Active Control condition, even after controlling for students’ prior knowledge and demographics.
On average, a student’s score is expected to improve by 6.4% after using FH2T for 2 hours compared to other programs like ASSISTments.
1. Both technology interventions, FH2T and DragonBox 12+, improved students' conceptual understanding of mathematical equivalence during a school year.
Chan, J. Y. C., Closser, A. H., Ngo, V., Smith, H., Liu, A. S., & Ottmar, E. (2023). Examining shifts in conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge and procedural flexibility in the context of two game‐based technologies. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
Students significantly improved and maintained learning gains on conceptual knowledge. Their performance on procedural knowledge and procedural flexibility items increased at midtest but decreased at posttest.
The pattern of results was consistent for students in the DragonBox and From Here to There! conditions, suggesting that both games may support students' conceptual understanding of algebra.
2. Results show a significantly larger effect for FH2T users compared to DragonBox when investigating the interaction between pretest performance and intervention condition.
Decker-Woodrow, L. E., Mason, C. A., Lee, J. E., Chan, J. Y. C., Sales, A., Liu, A., & Tu, S. (2023). The impacts of three educational technologies on algebraic understanding in the context of COVID-19. AERA open, 9(1), 1-17.
The results indicated a significantly larger effect for FH2T than DragonBox among students who scored higher on the pretest.
This finding suggests additional benefits of FH2T for students who already possess foundational or basic knowledge of algebraic concepts.
3. Slow-steady progressors, who did more resets and reattempts, showed the largest absolute learning gain scores among the four clusters
Lee, J. E., Chan, J. Y. C., Botelho, A., & Ottmar, E. (2022). Does slow and steady win the race?: Clustering patterns of students’ behaviors in an interactive online mathematics game. Educational technology research and development, 70(5), 1575-1599.
A cluster analysis identified four groups of students based on their behavioral patterns in the game.
Among the clusters, Slow-steady progressors, who reattempted the same problem more often than other students, showed the largest absolute learning gains, suggesting that behavioral engagement played a significant role in learning.