GRAPHING CALCULATORS AND STUDENTS

1
GRAPHING CALCULATORSANDSTUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT

• BY
• RAED DANDAN

2
STANDARDSMathematics

• 5.F. Technology
• Use technology to gather, analyze, and
  communicate mathematical information.
• Use computer spreadsheets, software, and graphing
  utilities to organize and display quantitative
  information (cf. workplace readiness standard
  8.4-D).
• Use graphing calculators and computer software to
  investigate properties of functions and their
  graphs.
• Use calculators as problem-solving tools (e.g.,
  to explore patterns, to validate solutions).
• Use computer software to make and verify
  conjectures about geometric objects.
• Use computer-based laboratory technology for
  mathematical applications in the sciences (cf.
  science standards).

3
STANDARDS Career Education and Consumer, Family,
and Life Skills

• Mission Through Career and Technological
  Education, students identify and pursue career
  goals, apply communication and critical thinking
  skills, develop employability skills, and plan
  for further education and employment.

4
STUDENTS

• Every student in the district receives a TI 84
  plus loaner from the school. (No social justice
  problem)
• The curriculum is geared toward infusing
  technology into the classroom (as part of NJ
  CCCS)
• The books have several graphing calculator
  practices and instructions. Problems involving
  graphing calculators are in every section.
• THE CURRICULUM MEETS THE NEEDS OF THE STUDENTS

5
INSTRUCTION

• THE TEACHERS ARE THE MAIN PROBLEM IN HERE.
• Teachers are resisting the change for 3 reasons
• Personal Belief There is a myth that says
  depending on the calculators make the students
  learn less and understand only how to press
  buttons on the handheld device.
• Too Much to Learn Some teachers are not willing
  to invest time in learning the millions of
  functions and applications in the new technology
• Familiarity Teachers are happy with the status
  quo of the chalk and talk teaching style. It is
  a whole new way to teach a hands-on math class.

6
SUPERVISION AND EVALUATION

• Teachers are not really held accountable to the
  use of technology. Even though it is an item on
  the evaluation sheet, supervisors dont put too
  much weight on it.

7
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• The school offers paid summer training sessions
  in mathematical technology software, graphing
  calculators and black board.
• The supervisor has a PD plan that involves
  technology for each one of the teachers.
• We have a staff member that is a TI trainer in
  the building.

8
RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGY

• Every student has a graphing calculator.
• Every class has a computer and black board.
• The school has more than 5 computer labs one of
  them is a math lab.

9
CONNECTIONS

• Even though the curriculum calls for
  interdisciplinary connections and provide several
  cross curricular activities, almost no one
  applies it.

10
STUDENT LEARNING

• Available research
• Aimee Ellington reported that Forty-two studies
  comparing students with access to graphing
  calculators during instruction to students who
  did not have access to graphing calculators
  during instruction are the subject of this
  meta-analysis. The results on the achievement and
  attitude levels of students are presented. The
  studies evaluated cover middle and high school
  mathematics courses, as well as college courses
  through first semester calculus. When calculators
  were part of instruction but not testing,
  students benefited from using calculators while
  developing the skills necessary to understand
  mathematics concepts. When calculators were
  included in testing and instruction, the
  procedural, conceptual, and overall achievement
  skills of students improved. http//www.eric.ed.go
  v/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/deta
  ilmini.jsp?_nfpbtrue_ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_
  0EJ751981ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0noaccnoEJ7
  51981

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STUDENT LEARNING

• TI reported that
• A growing body of research shows that graphing
  calculator use improves students
• math skills as well as their attitudes toward
  math.
• Specific research studies show that use of
  graphing calculators
• n Improves student skills and achievement in high
  school and middle school math.
• n Positively impacts student performance in
  algebra.
• n Improves math test scores with and without
  student calculator use during testing.
• n Leads to significantly better student attitudes
  toward math.
• n Promotes higher student achievement when
  incorporated into the curriculum.
• http//education.ti.com/sites/US/downloads/pdf/663
  7.pdf

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STUDENT LEARNING

• Many other researches show the effect of graphing
  calculators on student learning and student
  achievement.
• At PCTI since the school started providing
  students with graphing calculators in 2004-2005
  the HSPA proficiency level jumped from 52
  (according to the supervisor) in 2003-2004 to
  64.9 in 2004-2005 59.3 in 2005-2006 and 64.2
  in 2006-2007. Even the advanced proficiency
  increased from 4 in 2003-2004 to 6 in
  2004-2005, 7 in 2005-2006 and 9 in 2006-2007

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STUDENT LEARNING

• Data Collection and Analysis
• I conducted 2 different experiments to track the
  effect of graphing calculators
• 1- Compared midterm results among 6 algebra 2
  midterm. All classes are sophomore concept
  classes. 2 of these classes are taught by
  teachers who stress the use of graphing
  calculators. The others are taught by teachers
  who dont use graphing calculators much.
• Background all of these students took Algebra 1
  in the freshmen year. None of them were exposed
  to graphing calculators before sophomore year.
  None of the students passed Algebra 1 with 80 or
  above. Hence they were placed in concept algebra
  2.
• Result the 2 classes who used graphing
  calculators had a midterm average of 87 with a
  standard deviation of approximately 3.5
• The other classes combined had an average of 64
  with a standard deviation of approximately 8.4

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STUDENT LEARNING

• 2- Concentrate on Quadratic Equation
  presentation and testing
• Compared 2 teachers covering chapter 5
  (quadratic equation). One of the teacher did not
  use graphing calculator the other did.
• Assessment Students in the class using the
  graphing calculator were able to recognize and
  match the functions with the graph, solve
  quadratic equations, identiry the effect of the
  parameters and identify cases of no solution
  using the (h-k) format and the graph in 2/3 of
  the time and more accurately than the other
  class.