An Examination of Hand-Held Computer-Assisted Instruction on Subtraction Skills for Second Grade Students With Learning and Behavioral Disabilities
By Nordness, Philip D.; Volberding, Annette; Journal of Special Education Technology, Volume 26, Number 4, pages 15-23Publication Date: 2011
Study examined the use of a mathematic flashcard application on an Apple iPod Touch to improve subtraction skills for second grade students with learning and behavioral disabilities. Participants were three secondary students, two boys and a girl, from a large metropolitan community. The girl and one of the boys received special education services for learning disabilities, while the second boy received those services due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Students were selected for study participation as they were performing significantly below school district criteria for subtraction mastery. The dependent variable for the study was the percent of correctly answered subtraction problems on the Nebraska Abilities Math Test (N-ABLES), a district created assessment aligned with the state standards for math proficiency. The independent variable was the Math Magic software application, which uses a simple interface on the iPod Touch designed to teach children aged 3 to 8 basic math computation. Users can customize the difficulty level and set the maximum number of problems the students need to complete within a specific time frame. To determine the effect of 10 minutes of practice, three times a week, on 0 to 20 two-digit subtraction problems on the Math Magic application, a multiple baseline across students research design was implemented. All participants improved their subtraction scores by an average of 17 percent as measured by the N-ABLES. Study limitations and implications for future research are discussed.
Published by: Exceptional Innovations (Website:http://www.exinn.net)
Technology and Media Division (TAM) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) (Web Site: http://www.tamcec.org )
