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A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes-measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation-was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K-12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K-12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education). ix

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. ***The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.*** The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes-measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation-was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K-12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K-12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education). ix

From the abstract: "The purpose of this study was to find out from current high school math teachers, of geometry specifically, what their views of technology are. The goal of the study was to ask these teachers which technologies they use and whether they believe technology has beneficial effects on student learning. Data was collected for the survey by asking teachers to take brief electronic surveys and conduct in-person interviews. All questions in both the survey and interviews were focused on the effects of technology that they see in their classrooms. The scope of the participants was restricted to Columbus, Ohio, and thus, generalizations for any classroom or any school building cannot be made. However, this study did find a consensus among the participants as to which technologies they felt were the most beneficial in their classrooms, as well as those that might not be needed at all in a classroom. The three technologies that these teachers claimed to be the most beneficial were SMART boards, TI-nspire calculators and Geometer's Sketchpad/GeoGebra. Again, this study cannot make solid conclusions, but it is safe to say that this study gives insight into teachers' viewpoints, which, in a sense, are more important than those of outside researchers. The teachers agreed on a few technologies that are the most beneficial and thus future studies should focus on really studying the effects of these technologies as well as focus on getting a wider range of teachers' opinions on this topic."

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"A major study into maths attainment has found that boys and girls perform equally in the subject, dispelling long-held myths around gender and education. The first UK-wide research of its kind for 13 years was carried out by Keith Topping, Professor of Educational and Social Research at the University of Dundee, and education assessment company Renaissance found differences in maths attainment between girls and boys to be almost negligible. The study also found that regular and high-quality maths practice improves outcomes across the board and that primary pupils outperformed secondary students, with better attainment scores."

"Primary school students are more likely to understand and engage with maths if classes use real money and real-life projects, according to a Western Sydney University pilot study. The findings come as Australian students lag behind other countries in maths, with Year 4 students dropping from 18th to 28th out of 49 countries in year 4 maths in the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science study."

"This paper describes a research project on Year 3 primary school students in Malaysia in their use of computer-based video game to enhance learning of multiplication facts (tables) in the Mathematics subject. This study attempts to investigate whether video games could actually contribute to positive effect on children's learning or otherwise. In conducting this study, the researchers assume a neutral stand in the investigation as an unbiased outcome of the study would render reliable response to the impact of video games in education which would contribute to the literature of technology-based education as well as impact to the pedagogical aspect of formal education. In order to conduct the study, a subject (Mathematics) with a specific topic area in the subject (multiplication facts) is chosen. The study adopts a causal-comparative research to investigate the impact of the inclusion of a computer-based video game designed to teach multiplication facts to primary level students. Sample size is 100 students divided into two i.e., A: conventional group and B conventional group aided by video games. The conventional group (A) would be taught multiplication facts (timetables) and skills conventionally. The other group (B) underwent the same lessons but with supplementary activity: a computer-based video game on multiplication which is called Timez-Attack. Analysis of marks accrued from pre-test will be compared to post- test using comparisons of means, t tests, and ANOVA tests to investigate the impact of computer games as an added learning activity. The findings revealed that video games as a supplementary activity to classroom learning brings significant and positive effect on students' retention and mastery of multiplication tables as compared to students who rely only upon formal classroom instructions."

Abstract: "A mobile learning research project was conducted in Trinidad and Tobago to determine if mobile learning can assist high school students in learning mathematics. Several innovative techniques were used in this research to address the problem of high failure rates of mathematics in high schools in the Caribbean. A mobile learning application was developed based on a subset of the high school mathematics curriculum used in the English-speaking Caribbean. Game-based learning, personalization and multiple learning strategies were used in conjunction with mobile learning to assist students in improving their performance in mathematics. Three evaluation studies were conducted with the mobile learning application. During the studies, usage data was captured automatically by the system and this was used to determine the extent to which the students actually used the mobile application. At the end of each study, a questionnaire was used to capture student opinions of the mobile learning application. Questionnaire data is based solely on student responses and there is no guarantee of its accuracy and reliability. This paper focuses on the responses of the students to the questionnaire and seeks to determine if the usage data can increase the reliability of the questionnaire data. It summarizes the behaviour patterns of the students gleaned from the usage logs and compares this to the students' responses to the questionnaire. Generally it was found that the students' responses agreed with the usage data, though there were occasions when the responses diverged."

From the abstract: "The problem addressed by this study is the need to identify practical predictors of success for community college developmental mathematics students in online, hybrid and seated course delivery formats. This study examined two possible predictors of success, mathematics self-efficacy and technology self-efficacy, in the three delivery formats and how they related to performance on a final assessment. The study used a quantitative research design employing binomial logistic regression to determine if the independent variables (math self-efficacy and technology self-efficacy) were significant in predicting the outcome category (score on the final assessment dichotomized about the mean). Next linear regression analysis was used to build a predictor equation for a particular score on the outcome variable. A previously developed survey and an adapted version of another survey were combined to measure the independent variables; demographic factors were also measured for descriptive purposes. Binomial logistic regression analysis showed that math self-efficacy was a valid predictor of success for the developmental math students in this study but technology self-efficacy was not. Regression analysis produced a valid equation to predict standard score from average math selfefficacy score. When separated into groups according to course format, math self-efficacy was only a valid predictor for students in hybrid courses. The implications of these results are discussed and recommendations are made for further research."

LOGIN: http://tinyurl.com/math20event Mind the Daylight Saving Time! Geoff Roulet and Jill Lazarus will discuss their use of wikis, GeoGebra and Jing with students, and invite participants for an extended DIY exploration. More details concerning the software required are below. All events in the Math Future weekly series: http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/events The recording will be at: http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/SupportingCollaborativeMath Your time zone: http://bit.ly/z69yzS About Blended Mathematical Collaboration using a Wiki, GeoGebra and Jing This discussion centers on the use of computer tools in a high school class. The goal was to develop a "math-talk learning community" to establish mathematics communication and collaboration as a classroom norm. In support of this we have combined the use of a wiki, GeoGebra, and Jing. We would like to invite educators who have experience with wikis, GeoGebra and screencasts, or who would like to learn more, to discuss our project and share their ideas. Event Hosts Geoff is the skipper of and Jill a crew member on Jeannie, a J35 racing yacht. When not sailing, they are mathematics educators. After graduate work at the University of Waterloo, Geoff Roulet began teaching mathematics, computer science, and chemistry at Roland Michener Secondary School in Timmins, northern Ontario. In the late 1970s, when personal computers for computer science were placed in the back of his classroom, Geoff began using these to support student learning in mathematics. Since then he has been involved in ICT use in teaching and learning at all grades and in all subjects, but with a particular focus on mathematics. Teaching was followed by a short spell of curriculum development and support work with the Ontario Ministry of Education and then in 1990 a move to the Faculty of Education, Queen's University at Kingston. Along the way Geoff completed M.Ed. and D.Ed. degrees at the Ontario Institute for Studies

Abstract: "the researcher attempted to investigate how to better measure engagement and refine the measurement of engagement in this study. To frame the engagement, three domains of engagement - behavioral, cognitive, and emotional- are analyzed in detail to be able to examine the qualities of each type. Moreover, three game attributes -clear goals, immediate feedback, and balance between challenges and skills- are presented and discussed as fundamental features of virtual manipulatives and educational games used in this study to make an impact on students' engagement. To measure effects of educational games and virtual manipulatives on three domains of engagement, the researcher designed an engagement survey that examines each domain separately with their sub-domains. The Cronbach's alphas for engagement pre-test and post-test were found .89 and .91 respectively. In this pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design, four fifth-grade classrooms (N=86) from four schools in southwest Virginia were assigned as three experimental groups and one control group. In the first experimental group, participants played an educational game called Candy Factory and in the second experimental group, the students played another educational game called Pearl Diver on iPod Touch for eight days consecutively, for 20 minutes each. In the third experimental group, participants performed activities with virtual manipulatives, whereas in the control group, participants did paper-and-pencil iii drills for the same duration. All of the groups studied on the same topic, fractions. According to the results of ANCOVA, experimental group students' engagement scores were found significantly higher than control group students', F(1,80)=11.568, p=.001. When three domains of engagement were analyzed, significant differences were found among all three domains between experimental and control groups. When the researcher conducted separate analysis for educational games group and vir

"This Issue Brief examines 8th-grade achievement in reading, mathematics, and science for language minority students (i.e., those from homes in which the primary language was one other than English) who began kindergarten in the 1998-99 school year. Data come from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), which tracked the educational experiences of a nationally representative sample of children who were in kindergarten in the 1998-99 school year. The analyses present a picture of students' achievement at the end of the study by focusing on students' scores on the standardized assessments that were administered in the spring of 2007, when most students were in grade 8. Students are categorized into four groups according to language background and English language proficiency. Additionally, assessment scores are reported by three background characteristics-students' race/ethnicity, poverty status, and mother's education-that have been found to be related to achievement."

abstract: "A large number of studies carried out on pupils aged 8-14 have shown that teachable agent (TA) based games are beneficial for learning. The present pi- oneering study aimed to initiate research looking at whether TA based games can be used as far down as preschool age. Around the age of four, theory of mind (ToM) is under development and it is not unlikely that a fully developed ToM is necessary to benefit from a TA's socially engaging characteristics. 10 preschool children participated in an experiment of playing a mathematics game. The partic- ipants playing a TA-version of the game engaged socially with the TA and were not disturbed by his presence. Thus, this study unveil exciting possibilities for further research of the hypothesised educational benefits in store for preschoolers with regard to play-and-learn games employing TAs."

"Educational and developmental psychologists have tried to understand how skills and motivation are linked to academic achievement. While research supports ties between individuals' concepts of their abilities and their achievement, we lack a complete picture of how these relations develop from childhood to adolescence. A new longitudinal study looked at how youths' self-concepts are linked to their actual academic achievement in maths and reading from middle childhood to adolescence. The study found that students' self-concepts of their abilities in these two academic domains play an important role in motivating their achievements over time and across levels of achievement."

From the abstract: "This research examined the effects of the objectifying gaze on math performance, interaction motivation, body surveillance, body shame, and body dissatisfaction. In an experiment, undergraduate participants (67 women and 83 men) received an objectifying gaze during an interaction with a trained confederate of the other sex. As hypothesized, the objectifying gaze caused decrements in women'smath performance but notmen's. Interestingly, the objectifying gaze also increased women's, but notmen's,motivation to engage in subsequent interactions with their partner. Finally, the objectifying gaze did not influence body surveillance, body shame, or body dissatisfaction forwomen or men. One explanation for themath performance and interaction motivation findings is stereotype threat. To the degree that the objectifying gaze arouses stereotype threat, math performance may decrease because it conveys that women's looks are valued over their other qualities. Furthermore, interaction motivation may increase because stereotype threat arouses belonging uncertainty or concerns about social connections. As a result, the objectifying gazemay trigger a vicious cycle in which women underperform but continue to interact with the people who led them to underperform in the first place. Implications for long-term consequences of the objectifying gaze and directions for future research are discussed." (Full text available online (.pdf) )for now) ) (Winner of the 2011 Georgia Babladelis Best Paper Award)

Wow, what an amazing study!

From the National Center of Education Statistics: "The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 is the fifth administration of this international comparative study since 1995 when first administered. TIMSS is used to compare over time the mathematics and science knowledge and skills of fourth- and eighth-graders. TIMSS is designed to align broadly with mathematics and science curricula in the participating countries. The results, therefore, suggest the degree to which students have learned mathematics and science concepts and skills likely to have been taught in school. In 2011, there were 54 countries and 20 other educational systems that participated in TIMSS, at the fourth- or eighth-grade level, or both. The focus of the report is on the performance of U.S. students relative to their peers in other countries in 2011, and on changes in mathematics and science achievement since 2007 and 1995. For a number of participating countries and education systems, changes in achievement can be documented over the last 16 years, from 1995 to 2011. This report also describes achievement within the United States by sex, race/ethnicity, and enrollment in public schools with different levels of poverty. In addition, it describes achievement in nine states that participated in TIMSS both as part of the U.S. national sample of public and private schools as well as individually with state-level samples of public schools."

From the abstract (full text requires subscription or purchase): "Though cooperative learning has been a topic of considerable interest in educational research, there has been little study specific to learning in the mathematics content area of geometry. This paper seeks to address that gap through a design experiment featuring a novel small-group computing environment for supporting student learning about quadrilaterals. In this design, each student controls a unique point in a shared geometric space, and those points are linked such that a group of four students collectively forms a quadrilateral. We first present results from pre- and post-measures to show how the students learned from the activities and developed in terms of geometric reasoning. We then present three episodes, elaborated with the notion of appropriation, to explain how students took up ways of using the technological tools and of talking about geometric concepts from one another in the interactive environment. Our study found that students achieved learning gains in this novel environment, that the environment provided rich opportunities for peer interaction around geometric objects, and that student learning opportunities and interactions were characterized by processes of appropriating ways of talking about and using software features."

Research study at Michigan State University shows how developing spatial reasoning in young children (6-8) improves calculation

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Researchers from Notre Dame and Harvard, in a paper to be published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, discuss Soviet mathematicians' movement to U.S. institutions following the breakup of the Soviet Union, how Soviet mathematical study engaged in different areas of specialization from that of the west, and subsequently "a flood of new mathematicians, theorems and ideas."

Abstract only online, full text requires subscription or purchase. Results of one study of 10-12 year old children in eight classrooms in three Australian primary schools leads researchers to suggest "educators should carefully consider the application and appropriateness of games before employing them as a vehicle for introducing mathematical concepts. "

Description of a University of Queensland study involving 36 infants, half 15 months and half 18 months. Tests with counting videos suggests that the 18 month old children have a grasp of counting rules before they can count (for example, understanding that objects can be counted only once." Further research using brain imaging is suggested.

Thanks - this will be useful for my "Math-rich baby" online class!