Investigating the Effects of Tablet-Based Math Interventions: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

There is debate over the effectiveness of using touch-screen tablet technology on overall student learning gains. This article provides a meta-analysis of studies that used tablets for the delivery of math interventions, programs, or apps to increase student math achievement. A total of 20 group design studies with 2,805 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, tablet-based math interventions provided moderate positive effects for student math gains. Significant moderator variables included participant ethnicity, and socio-economic status, selecting a specific app for use, minutes in intervention, dependent variable, and type of control group. Discussion focuses on the need for more rigorous methodology and reporting of participant and design variables in future studies and the implications for researchers and practitioners when using tablets as a delivery method for math interventions.

Mobile Learning and Students’ Academic Achievement: A Second-order Meta-analysis Study

“…The influence of mobile learning on academic achievement has continued to grow rapidly in the last two decades, which has led to not only the increase of empirical studies (e.g., Cai et al, 2020;Thornton & Houser, 2005;Yeh et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2020) but also the increase of systemic reviews and meta-analysis (e.g., Aspiranti & Larwin, 2021;Chen et al, 2021;Güzeller & Üstünel, 2016;Hassan Taj et al, 2016;Mahdi, 2018;Sung et al, 2015;Sung et al, 2017).…”

A systematic literature review of math interventions across educational settings from early childhood education to high school

“…Lastly, several meta-analyses and systematic reviews have included math interventions across educational settings, for instance across kindergarten, elementary and middle school (i.e., K-12; Zhang and Xin, 2012;Lein et al, 2020;Ran et al, 2021;Dennis et al, 2022), across elementary and middle or high school (Templeton et al, 2008;Aspiranti and Larwin, 2021;Peltier et al, 2021), or across middle and high school (Jitendra et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2022). In these reviews, larger effects were found for interventions conducted in the elementary grades than in higher grades, and for interventions developed and implemented by the researchers (Lein et al, 2020).…”

The Letter-Naming Benchmarks, Growth Profiles, and the Efficacy of an Interactive Learning App on Uppercase Letter-Name Learning for Preschool Children

“…As stated, Apple's App Store offers a myriad of education apps for all grade levels and subjects to run on the iPad. Thus, the iPad has justifiably gained increasing popularity as a mobile tablet for learning in the home and in the classroom (Aspiranti & Larwin, 2021;Hirsch-Pasek et al, 2015;Rideout, 2014Rideout, , 2017.…”

“…Leveraging knowledge from the Science of Learning, both theoretical and empirical research has attested that interactive, educational apps afford opportunities for engaging children in the repeated and varied practice of skills by integrating specific learning concepts into interactive gameplay and other activities (e.g., Aspiranti & Larwin, 2021;Griffith et al, 2020;Hirsh-Paseket al, 2015). For example, educational apps can be individualized to the child's pace and provide the child opportunities to engage in "drill and practice" as a means to independently master target skills and concepts (Hirsh-Pasek et al, 2015;Kim et al, 2021;Neumann et al, 2017;Papadakis et al, 2018).…”