Capstone Project: Multiplication Madness Phase I - Literary Review

Jodi Marie Fochler B.S. Ed.

Integrative Capstone Project: EDTC 670 Dr. Timothy Green University of Maryland University College

Abstract Over the past decade several studies have been conducted around the world on the use of technology and gaming to enhance student success when it comes to the memorization of multiplication facts. This literature review will examine the importance of multiplication as it relates to higher-level mathematic concepts, according to the US National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (Chang, Sung, Chen, & Huang, 2008, p.2905), the value of technology in the classroom and its benefits as it relates to mathematics and cooperative learning, as well as the effective use of game-based instruction. In reviewing the literature it was determined that the implementation of game-based instruction, combined with technology and collaboration of peers is a recipe for success.

Basic Fact Recall The instructional issue that has become a problem with upper level elementary school students is their lack of number sense and knowledge when it comes to multiplication facts. When looking at the research there was evidence that this same issue was occurring many years back. According to Wilson, Majsterek, and Simmons (1996), these errors are due to the deficits in the basic fact recall that the students do not seem to have, which in turn effects their higher order mathematical processes. Chang, Sung, Chen, and Huang (2008) agree with this idea as well, expressing that students are not able to progress to the meaning of multiplication, its properties, or the computation piece without first knowing the basic facts. Lastly, Abdullah, Abu, Ali, Faye, Hassan, Amar, and Yaacob (2011) also supported this idea and went a step further in saying that students need to memorize their multiplication facts to proceed in learning other mathematic concepts such as algebra and division. All of these scholarly articles expressed the same concerns that lead to this project being created, the concern that without the memorization of these facts the students will not be able to successfully complete other mathematical tasks.

Technology and Cooperative Learning Technology is the wave of the future so to speak. We use technology in many formats, whether it is to communicate, document, or to engage in entertainment. Multimedia has become an interest to people of all ages and recent studies have found that multimedia has a positive impact on learning across regular kindergarten through high school educational settings(Yuliang, 2012, p.255). A study found in the Journal of Educational Systems by L. Yuliang in 2012 provided a look at how technology and collaborative

learning could be integrated with special education students. These multimedia lessons provided opportunities for students to become engrossed in different styles of learning, such as graphics and video, in order to learn new mathematic concepts. The teachers in this study found the use of multimedia instruction to be both engaging and beneficial to their students, but felt they themselves lacked the technological skills and planning abilities to put such a lesson into place on a frequent basis. The students who participated in the study were surveyed and for the most part responded positively to the multimedia lessons. They were observed by the teachers to be engaged and focused during both of the experimental multimedia mathematic lessons. These studies consistently found that minority and special education students in the enriched multimedia curriculum outperformed their counterparts at a medium to large effect size in the regular kindergarten through high school settings(Yuliang, 2012, p.256). This became the basis for the decision to move forward with using technology as well as collaborative learning for the intervention technique to assist my students in becoming more fluent with their multiplication facts. The students in this study were found to not only enjoy the lessons being presented in this format, but also showed understanding of the taught concepts. Based on the results from both experiments, students mean quiz scores were significantly higher at the end of the experiment than those in the pretest before the experiment. These results seemed not surprising since almost all students in both experiments enjoyed the multimedia lessons and they were highly engaged in those lessons (Yuliang, 2012, p.265).

In making a plan for the Multiplication Madness project I had to take into account the

lack of computer access my students have. Being that I teach in a low-income community, many of my students do not have access to computers at home and my classroom only has four computers available. In order to best address the needs of the project the computer lab would need to be accessed. The best way to go about this would be to combine both 5th grade classes so that we could make the best use of the time allotted to the project by the administration. This gave me the idea to look at how collaborative teams and/or partnerships, like we use in reading, would work with computers. Many times we look at computers as a tool that is meant for one user at a time, however according to the British Journal of Educational Technology (2010) there are many ways in which computers can be used in groups, including education. This seemed to have worked in the study done by Yuliang (2012), and according to Bookman and Malone, collaborative use of technology is not only highly engaging, but leads to the development of metacognitive knowledge and skills necessary for collaborative inquiry and reflective learning (Bookman & Malone, 2006, p.45). Often times educators revert back to the old fashion way of teaching where the teacher lectures and then requires the students to respond on paper to what was taught. In the Bookman and Malone (2006) article they refer back over an old yet valid point in which Edelson, Pea, and Gomez (1996) argued that; math and science reforms of the 1960s that were most successful were not just those that emphasized the active nature of the learning through manipulatives and hands-on inquiry, but also those that provided opportunities for students to talk while they were engaged in learning, interacting about what they were learning, what they believed, and what they had difficulty understanding (Bookman &

Malone, 2006, p.45). The goal for students to gain as much from the lessons we provide as possible, and usually that means more hands-on experiences and less teacher talk. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) now allows for teachers to incorporate yet another strategy into the classroom that will allow a form of learning that can be adapted for individual or group instruction. The use of technology and the Internet enable students, both individually and collaboratively, to work hands-on with complex content and ideas (Falloon, Janson, & Janson, 2009, p.49). But in this case I also want to enforce the idea of collaborative learning, not just the hands-on portion. When researching ideas as to how collaborative activities and discussions work with technology I found that Mayrou, Lewis, and Douglas (2010) provided some great information in their article found in the British Journal of Educational Technology. When completing a study where students were working in pairs to improve reading and language, one special education and one general education student, they said the discussion among group members can take place between the computers initiation and the pupils response, as well as the pupils, whose interaction is affected by the presence of the computer (Mayrou, Lewis, & Douglas, 2010, p.491). This made sense because now the students, whether they know each other, want to talk, or not, have something in common; the computer. As I was reading through this study I thought about the links I saw between the special education students and the students we have who are not fluent English speakers. They both are groups who could use the extra assistance by visual stimuli. At the end of the article I found it very inspiring to read that according to Abbott, Austin, Mulkeen and Metcalfe (2004), children and young people with special needs benefit greatly from the experience

of being included, and Computers input in pupils interactions technology has the possibility to reduce isolation and increase self-confidence in the mainstream community (Mayrou, Lewis, & Douglas, 2010, p.499). In another article this same ideas was also supported. Yuliang (2012) states in her research on multimedia learning that studies consistently found that minority and special education students in the enriched multimedia curriculum outperformed their counterparts at a medium to large effect size in the regular kindergarten through high school settings (Yuliang, 2012, p.256), which as you can see supports multiple ideas in my research. In addition to the research in the article, which supported the study with the third graders, the suggestion was made that the use of multimedia in the classroom can be used as a supplemental strategy, not just as a solution to replace what is already being used. This is a great support for the Multiplication Madness project since this will be used as a support and not as a new way of teaching the curriculum on a daily basis. This study further supported that multimedia-based curriculum and instruction can be an effective alternative to the exclusive dependence on textbook-based mathematics instruction (Yuliang, 2012, p.266), which really helps us to open the classroom up to the idea of common core and student lead discussions rather then just worksheets and textbook assignments.

So here in lies the question; now that we know technology, computer based, and cooperative learning is a successful way in which to teach mathematic skills, how do we go about using this technology to teach or review skills?

Computer Based Games for Education

In order to best incorporate technology into the mathematics curriculum, I wanted to be sure that the use was going to be fun and engaging to the learner, promote a collaborative learning environment, and focus on the goal of building up their knowledge of basic multiplication skills. My first thought was to incorporate some kind of gaming program. We always hear about children who are obese because they sit in the house any play video games or surf the web rather then playing outside and getting exercise. So why not take advantage of their interests and tie in games to the learning of mathematics? According to the Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, we can now transform the boring task of memorization into something more fun through music, games and activities that reinforce repetition of the math facts (Abdullah, Abu, Ali, Faye, Hassan, Amar, & Yaacob, 2011, p.15). This article was written specifically about the use of video games in the mathematics classroom. The information in this article suggested that this design for instruction not only engages the students but it can also motivate, challenge, increase curiosity and control, and promote imagination in children (Abdullah, Abu, Ali, Faye, Hassan, Amar, & Yaacob, 2011, p.15). The article I found that best related to the ideas I had for this project was from the Proceedings of The European Conference On Games Based Learning (2010), which supported this very same idea by saying that, A game seduces its players into intense and passionate means of entertainment and fortifies learning since it manages to involve its players with its scenario. Students are enthusiastic about games and the rest of the educational targets are achieved without any difficulty or substantial effort according to the pedagogical theory of learning by doing as expressed by J. Dewey (Ntourlia, Gouscos, & Meimaris, 2012, p.281).

The research has shown that playing games in math provides students the enthusiasm for learning, and appears to also build positive attitudes (Bragg, 2003) self-esteem, and enhances motivation (Bragg, 2006, p.4), but the question is, does this really work? According to Wilson, Majesterek, and Simmons (1996), the students in their study were showing an increase in fact recall while completing computer based activities and when they were finally asked to recall those facts on paper based activities, they were able to do so. This is enlightening since this shows that the computer practice is paying off, especially with the special education students.

After reading these two articles I was convinced that gaming was the way to go with the Multiplication Madness project for my fifth graders. I could actually feel the excitement because I knew that my students loved playing computer games and this would just be another chance for them to use technology, work with their peers, and hopefully learn their multiplication facts in a way other then the old fashion drill and kill style. The idea of boredom, which was brought up in an article previously mentioned, and the drill and kill style I remember to be boring, were both brought together in the article about the One-One Content-First Approach (2009) on the use of Edubingo. This article supported the idea that games are an effective strategy by saying that, arithmetic drills render students prone to boredom (McLeod, 1992), make students either distracted or impatient, lower their learning interest, and consequently run contrary to the assessment goaldeveloping fluency. Gamebased pedagogies can effectively shift students attention from performing repetitious and boring tasks to winning a game, thereby maintaining their

engagement in the learning tasks (Sung-Bin, Chi-Jen, Ching, Cheng, Chang, FeiChing, Wu, & Tak-Wai, 2009, p.346). I did find that in one study compiled by Chang, Sung, Chen, and Huang (2008), the results were a little different then the others. The study was done to determine whether the use of computer-assisted learning would be an effective strategy with second grade students when it came to mathematic related concepts. It was determined that the computer based learning strategy was successful with students who had low scores on the pre-tests, however did not make a significant impact on students whose pre-test scores were not significantly low to begin with. The positive in this is that the activities were effective for improving comprehension of multiplication concepts and the meaning and properties of multiplication for students who did not have high-test scores prior to instruction (Chang, Sung, Chen, & Huang, 2008, p.2916). This helps me to see that even though we are using technology as a way to differentiate instruction, we may need to differentiate the differentiation, meaning the websites and games the students use. If the students are already performing well on the pre-test they do not really need to focus on the same math content during the computer time. For the Multiplication Madness project all of the students have needs when it comes to the next steps that follow basic fact recall, so they will all be practicing their basic facts, and the ones who do know their facts can be motivators to those who are struggling. The ideas in the study I read about on Tuxmath, compiled by Ntourlia, Gouscos, and Meimaris (2010) gave me some great ideas as to how I would like to go about structuring this project, including collection and presentation of data. I would like to use Tuxmath as the technology based solution. I found the game to have the qualities needed for the goals I have in mind for my students

and it has research to support it. The article did say that the TuxMath game cannot be considered as a tool for learning or understanding basic multiplication skills. On the contrary, it can be used as a tool to improve students memorization as well as their familiarization with multiplication products, since it reinforces repetition and provides feedback (Ntourlia, Gouscos, & Meimaris, 2010, p.289). This is the type of game that I am looking for in order to assist the students with their fact recall skills. The research that has been done for this project has built up to finding a technology based solution that is entertaining, motivating, proven to assist with basic fact recall, and can lend it self to cooperative learning such as the way Tuxmath does.

Final Thoughts After the literary review I have determined that the best strategy for this instructional issue is using a computer based program that is set up with a game like structure. The literature shows that the use of computers in the classroom for mathematics instruction is both beneficial and motivating. When choosing how to use the technology, gaming seems to be an effective, researched based, way to do so. Lastly, with the lack of computers available, time allotted for computer use, and the amount of English Language Learners in our school, collaborative learning seems to be a proven strategy that coincides well with the use of computers in the mathematics and will hopefully benefit our students. When all of the research based literature is looked at separately you find there are many ways to increase student performance, but when you put them together we can find one way to try and put all their pieces together for one great solution to this Multiplication Madness, Games!

Resources Abdullah, M., Abu Bakar, Z., Ali, R., Faye, I., Hassan, M., bin Amar, A., & Yaacob, R. (2011). Video Games in Children's Learning of Mathematics. International Journal Of Basic & Applied Sciences, 11(2), 14-17. Bragg, L. A. (2006). Hey, I'm Learning This. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 11(4), 4-7. Bookman, J., & Malone, D. (2006). Negotiating Roles and Meaning while Learning Mathematics in Interactive Technology-Rich Environments. Journal Of Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning, 6(2), 41-65. Chang, K., Sung, Y., Chen, Y., & Huang, L. (2008). Learning multiplication through computer-assisted learning activities. Journal of Computers in Human Behavior, 24(6), 2904-2916. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2008.04.015 Falloon, G., Janson, R., & Janson, A. (2009). Digital Learning Objects: A Need for Educational Leadership. Agora, 44(3), 48-53. Mavrou, K., Lewis, A., & Douglas, G. (2010). Researching computer-based collaborative learning in inclusive classrooms in Cyprus: The role of the computer in pupils' interaction. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 41(3), 486-501. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00960.x Ntourlia, M., Gouscos, D., & Meimaris, M. (2010). TuxMath: Is it Possible for a Game to Enhance Multiplication Skills?. Proceedings Of The European Conference On Games Based Learning, 280-290. Sung-Bin, C., Chi-Jen, L., Ching, E., Cheng, H., Chang, B., Fei-Ching, C., Wu, D., & Tak-Wai, C. (2009). (2009). EduBingo: Developing a Content Sample for the One-to-One Classroom by the Content-First Design Approach. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 12(3), 343-353. Wilson, R., & And, O. (1996). The Effects of Computer-Assisted versus TeacherDirected Instruction on the Multiplication Performance of Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities. Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 29(4), 382-90. Yuliang, L. (2012). Effects of integrating multimedia into the third grade mathematics curriculum to improve student learning. Journal of Educational Technology Systems. 40(3), 251-271. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/ET.40.3.c http://baywood.com