My research on the Effects of 1:1 iPad Use on the Academic Achievement among 7th Grade Students in Science was conducted during my Plate Tectonics unit. The unit took place February 21st through March 29th, 2019. My research includes data collected from a pre-assessment, post-assessment, and from a comprehensive survey on iPad use that I administered to my students .
The overall average score for all of my classes on their Plate Tectonics Pre-test open note formative assessment was 75%
Class Averages:
My pre-assessment was given through the Edulastic website. Edulastic allows the teacher to type which standards from the Next Generation Science Standards they would like questions about and the site generates a list of questions to choose from. This pre-assessment consisted of 39 multiple choice plate tectonic questions. The pre-assessment was administered to 118 students. The students were introduced to all the content on the pre-assessment prior to taking the test and were allowed to use all of their notes. As you can see from my results both Level 1 classes scored an average of 84% on the pre-assessment. My Period 4 Level 2 class scored an average of 69%, my Period 7 Level 2 class scored an average of 67%, and my Period 8 Level 2 class scored an average of 69%. My Level 1 students tend to grasp concepts quicker and usually take more detailed notes. I assume that is why my Level 1 students scored much higher than my Level 2 students on this pre-assessment. After the pre-assessment we spent one and a half weeks completing plate tectonics activities in class and the students were given Quizizz and Kahoot games on their Google Classroom for practice. The students were also given the Plate Tectonics Nearpod presentation with all content and questions contained to review before they were given their final summative assessment.
I posted a plate tectonics Quizizz game on Google Classroom for my 118 students to practice. The students were allowed to play as many times as they would like. Many of my students like to play until they are able to score 100%. My results were as follows:
As you can see the majority of my students chose to practice the Quizizz game. Only 3 of my 118 students did not complete at least one attempt at home. The majority which was 42 students practiced Quizizz two times, followed by 27 students who practiced one time, and 22 who practiced three times. The maximum amount of time Quizizz was practiced was 12 times by one student.
The results of my Plate Tectonics Summative Assessment were as follows:
The overall average for all of my classes on the Plate Tectonics Summative Assessment was an 86% which is an 11 point increase from the pre-assessment.
Class Averages:
My post-assessment was given on paper and the students were not allowed to use their notes, unlike the pre-assessment which was open-note. The post-assessment was given a week and a half after the pre-assessment. During that week and a half we were finishing up the unit in class and I provided Quizizz, Kahoot, and Nearpod reviews on Google Classroom for my students to solidify their Plate Tectonics content knowledge. When analyzing my results it is apparent to me that my Level 2 students showed the most improvement when they practiced the content through iPad review apps. In fact my Level 2 students had a 14.7 point increase on average from their pre-assessment to their post-assessment. My Level 1 students had a 6 point score increase on average from their pre-assessment to their post-assessment. All of my classes improved their scores from the pre-assessment to the post-assessment. It is apparent to me and reflected in my data that students practicing content through review apps on the iPad have a better understanding of science content and achieve at a higher level.
It is clear through the data collected that my students feel that Quizizz helps them to review Science content. 97.2% responded that Quizizz did help them review content versus only 2.8 that responded that Quizizz did not help them review Science content.
Some comments from my students who felt that Quizizz helped them review science content were as follows:
One of the students who said Quizizz did not help them review gave the following reason:
From the students comments I can conclude that they find Quizizz to be an enjoyable way to study. The students appreciated that Quizizz allowed them enough time to answer the questions, that they could play as many time as they would like, and that they got instant feedback.
My students also felt that Kahoot helps them review content but they did not think it was as effective as Quizizz. 84.5% of my students said Kahoot helped them review content while only 15.7% said that Kahoot did not help them review content.
Some comments from my students who felt that Kahoot helped them review science content were as follows:
Some students did not feel that Kahoot helped them review science content and they gave the following reasons why they felt that way:
From the students comments on Kahoot I can conclude that the majority found Kahoot helpful to review because they felt it is fun and competitive. The students who did not find Kahoot helpful for review felt that the game was too focused on answering quickly rather than having time to get the answer right.
Students responded that Nearpod was the least effective app to help review science content. 70.4% of my students felt Nearpod helped them review Science content while 29.6% felt that Nearpod did not help them review science content.
Some comments from students who felt Nearpod did help them review content are as follows:
Some comments from students who felt Nearpod did not help them review Science content.
While Nearpod was the least favorite of the three review apps, 70.4% still found that the app was helpful mainly because they could take notes from it and they liked how there were questions they needed to answer after the content slides are shown. The students who did not find Nearpod helpful to review science content mostly voiced that they thought it could be boring at times and was better for introducing material rather than reviewing it.
When students were asked about the importance of iPad usage to learning school content the sentiment is clear, students feel the iPad is essential to learning. A majority of 46 students said the iPad's importance was a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5 and only 3 students gave the iPad the lowest score of 1.
A majority of my students indicted that they would rather complete their work on the iPad than on paper. 59.3% of my students chose working on the iPad versus 40.7% who chose working on paper.
Some comments from students who chose working on the iPad rather than on paper are as follows:
Some comments from students who felt they would rather complete their work on paper rather than the iPad are as follow:
From my students comments I can conclude that students who prefer the iPad over paper do so because it keeps them more organized. Many of the students who chose paper over the iPad mentioned that the iPad required wifi access so their work could not be completed everywhere. Some student said the iPad hurt their eyes or gave them headaches if they are on it too long. Some students preferrred paper because they get distracted on the iPad. While others favored paper because they felt writing things down helped them remember the content better.
The issue of iPad distraction can be tricky. While the iPad has so many educational uses students also have access to things like the internet and non-educational games. Thankfully social media, Netflix, and most you tube videos are blocked on our students iPad so the temptation may be lessened a bit. Overall, 56.5% of my students said that doing work on the iPad did not lead to more distraction than if they worked on paper and 43.5% said that working on the iPad did lead to more distraction than working on paper.
In conclusion 1:1 iPad use among 7th grade students in science does increase their academic achievement. When comparing an open notebook pre-assessment to a summative post-assessment, my students on average showed an 11% increase in their test scores. My Level 2 students showed the greatest improvement and increased their scores an average of 14.7 points while my Level 1 students showed an average increase of 6 points between the pre and post-assessment. The pre-assesment was given after the information was introduced. The students had 8 school days in between to practice the material using Quizizz games, Kahoot games, and a Nearpod presentation which were all posted on Google Classroom. The students could access these activities as much or as little as the would like. In fact only 3 of my 118 students did not try at least one attempt of Quizizz on Google Classroom. Two attempts of Quizizz was the most common number of attempts and 42 of my students fell into this category. The most number of attempts on Quizizz was 12. Of the three review apps my students felt Quizizz was the most helpful in reviewing Science content. 97.2% of my students replied that Quizizz was helpful in reviewing science content while only 2.8% felt that it was not helpful. Kahoot was the second favorite with 84.3% of students indicating that Kahoot was helpful in reviewing science content while only 15.7% felt it was not helpful. The least favorite app for review was Nearpod with 70.4% of students replying that it was helpful while 29.6% of students did not feel Nearpod was helpful in their review of Science content. When asked how important iPad usage is to learning in school it was clear my students value the iPad as a learning tool. On a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being least important and 5 being most important the majority of students chose 4. Only 3 students gave the importance of the iPad the low score of 1. Students also preferred to do their work on the iPad rather than paper. 59.3% of my students responded that they would rather work on the iPad than paper with 40.7% of students choosing paper over the iPad. The one drawback to iPad use in the classroom in inappropriate use. Students can sometime be distracted by the internet access but thankfully a majority of my students did not feel that working on the iPad was more distracting than working on paper. 56.5% of my students responded "No" when asked if doing work on the iPad leads to more distraction than working on paper with 43.5% of students saying "Yes" there was more of a distraction. The 1:1 iPad distribution at my school has lead to increased science achievement among my 7th grade students.