Tech Quest Project Description

A Compelling Mathematical Dilemma

As a middle school building substitute teacher I have a very unique perspective on how the curriculum spirals through grades 5th to 8th. I spend a lot of time in math classes from general education classrooms and the academic resource room, to eighth grade honors algebra. I have noticed something in each setting that has become quite obvious; the students that do not have math fact fluency and a solid understanding of basic mathematical principles will be negatively impacted both academically and emotionally in this subject area as they progress through middle school.

To prepare students for more complex math classes like Algebra they need to have a strong foundation in computational fluency. It has been shown that fast access to number combinations supports effective and efficient problem solving. Computational fluency is achieved with sufficient and appropriate practice to develop automatic recall of math facts. This frees up the brain’s working memory so that more attention can be given to more complex tasks. (Final Report 2008)

Cognitive psychologists have discovered that humans have fixed limits on the attention and memory that can be used to solve problems. One way around these limits is to have certain components of a task become so routine and over-learned that they become automatic. (CITEd 2003)

Both the NCTM's Curriculum Focal Points and the National Mathematics Advisory Panel Report emphasize that developing fact automaticity is crucial to the successful mastery of number concepts and algebraic reasoning.

Teachers are overwhelmed with all the curriculum standards and benchmarks that we are responsible for and many times basic math facts are left to practice at home. There is a large discrepancy in the amount of time individual students spend on this task. I think that using technology to help students with the foundation of math fact fluency and basic mathematical principles could help them achieve more confidence and academic success. This would help prevent many students from getting turned off to math in the middle school years. Many students get so frustrated with multi-step problems because they get bogged down in the details. If they make an error in the first couple steps of the problem they can actually get the process right but the answer wrong so they feel like they are failures or that they just aren’t good at math. Who would want to read a novel if they didn’t have a repertoire of sight words? If you had to struggle through every other word the novel it wouldn’t make sense and it would be too frustrating to even attempt to read so you would give up. This same negative math mentality can carry over into high school and college and really limit career and job choices in the future. Getting students more confident and comfortable in this subject area is critical in this age range.

Technology to the Rescue

I believe this educational issue can be addressed with the use of relevant technology. Practice alone is not enough. Immediate feedback, individualized instruction and consistent use with guidance from a teacher is critical to the success of such a plan. There are many technology resources that can be utilized and implemented both in school and at home. We know that reading logs are effective in getting our students to read which leads to more fluency in reading and writing. The same is true for math. The more the student is exposed to math facts and basic mathematical concepts the more fluent they will become in the math area as well. I think of it like sight words for math. I believe that using technology and maintaining a math log would help to accomplish this goal. A daily requirement of just 10 minutes of math practice would be very beneficial.

Just randomly playing math games online may be helpful to some degree; however, after doing research on this topic it is obvious that consistency and individualized instruction is vital to the success of any program for positive long term benefits.

Research does support this theory: The Panel recommends that high-quality computer assisted instruction (CAI) drill and practice, implemented with fidelity, be considered as a useful tool in developing students’ automaticity (i.e., fast , accurate, and effortless performance on computation), freeing working memory so that attention can be directed to the more complicated aspects of complex tasks. (Final Report 2008)

The technology resources necessary to increase math confidence and fluency are in most schools already. It would be more advantageous if students had daily access to computers and software, however this could be done with possible alternatives as well. Teacher implementation and tracking is minimal and the costs could be low depending on software use and computer accessibility.

After the initial introduction and modeling of the math log application there would need to be additional follow up in the tracking and recording of individual student progress. The technology program could do this or it could be done with paper and pencil depending on computer accessibility.

Computer Assisted Instruction: Math Programs

One of the biggest advantages to using technology in this area would be the ability to customize practice depending on individual student needs and learning styles. Using technology to achieve math these math goals would be much more advantageous then traditional paper and pencil tasks. All of the programs I have researched allow for customized instruction based on student performance.

I have researched multiple math programs for this task. I have found that there is a huge range in both pricing and flexibility of the programs. There is a very helpful website that has a matrix for 47 different math programs that includes research and descriptions on each one. Some are web based and others are strictly software. The Tech Matrix link is a great resource for finding more information on each program. Unfortunately, there is a cost involved for each program ranging from about $300 for one computer to about $10,000 for school wide access. Of course, these are also some of the most flexible and well managed programs available. Six programs that I found that were very impressive are linked below:

Hey Math

Doma +Unique Math

FASTt Math

Academy of Math

Skills Tutor, Math Fact Fluency

IXL Math

I would recommend purchasing one of the programs for long term benefits in a school setting. Record management and tracking for individual students is included.

I have also researched many web based free resources that I could use immediately in combination with a math log. For the focus in this class I will need to use the free resources online. I will be using them daily with my own two children. I have a third grade student that is just now learning his math facts for multiplication and division. I also have a sixth grade student that is just staring to do order of operations and a more focused algebra curriculum. Her lack of automaticity of math facts is really slowing her down and increasing her frustration. I will have both of them start a daily math log at home and monitor their progress during the next few weeks. The free math sites I have researched and will be using for this project are linked below.


That Quiz for Teachers

Kids Numbers

The disadvantage to the free sites is that they are not adaptive to a skill set and can not be individualized like the programs for purchase.