AlgebraIntegrationPaper

DavidFoster
NorthCarolinaStateUniversity
ECI:TechnologyIntegrationTheoryandPractice
Fall2014

Iremembertheoverheadprojectorwithitsbright,yellowlight,acupofhalfworkingdry
erasemarkers,andaspraybottleofwaterthatexplainedmultistepequationsandprobability.
Sometimes,thepulldown,whitescreenwouldgetstuck,makingtheteacherusethewhiteboard,
whichonlyreplacedthechalkboardacoupleofmonthsago.Theteacherspokewithaloudvoice
saying,Listenup
!
asweslouchedfurtherbackintoourseats.Sometimes,shewouldeven
spraythewaterbottleintotheclasstowakeusup,assheslowlycrackedasmile.Themath
teacherIrememberthemostisMrs.Kucik,andshehadvirtuallynotechnologyinher
classroom.Havingbeentaughtwithlittletechnologygrowingupisoneofthefactorsthathas
slowedthetechnologyintegrationprocessintomyclassroom.Themainreasons,though,aremy
schoolslackoffundingandappropriateprofessionaldevelopmenttotrainmewithhelpful
softwareandapps.Thishadledtomyclassroombeingteacherorientedaroundlecturesfor
studentcomprehension.
TheNationalCouncilofTeachersforMathematics(NCTM)statesthattechnologyis
essentialinteachingandlearningmathematicsitinfluencesthemathematicsthatistaughtand
enhancesstudentslearning.Thecouncilgoesontosaythattheexistence,versatility,and
poweroftechnologymakesitpossibleandnecessarytoreexaminewhatmathstudentsshould
learnaswellashowtheybestlearnit(Roblyer,2013).Withtheseboldstatementscoming
fromthecouncilthatinfluencesmyprofession,itistimetoupdatemyinstruction.Ihaveseen,
firsthand,thattechnologyhelpslearnerstovisualizethegenerally,abstractworldofmath.
ThroughthelearningofappropriatemultimediaincongruencewithTPACKstrategies,
technologyisofferingnewandbetteropportunitiesforknowledgeconstructioninmath.

Thankfully,throughthehelpofmyprofessorsandfellowstudentsatNCState,technology
integrationinmyclassroomisoccurring.
WhenIwasanAlgebrateacherforthreeyears,theunitthattroubledmystudentsmost
wasfactoring.(ThestandardscoveredinthisunitareHSA.APR.B2,HSA.APR.B3,
HSA.APR.C5,HSA.APR.D7(National,2010)).Thisunitwasalwayscoveredbeforethe
Christmasholidays.Oftentimes,whensecondsemesterbegan,studenttestscoresweresolow
thatIhadrevisittheseskillsbeforemovingon.WhenIhavelearnedaboutTPACK,I
consistentlyhearthattechnologyshouldbeusedwhenitaddressesaspecificinstructionaldeficit
(Caldwell,2012).Therefore,allresearch,information,andtechnologieschoseninthispaperare
focusedtoimprovestudentmasteryoffactoring.
ThefirsttypeoftechnologyIwouldliketoincorporateintomyclassroomisanaudience
responsesystem.Roblyerdescribesthissoftwareasaclassroomtoolthatpermitseachstudentin
theclassroomtoansweraquestionsimultaneously(2013).Theusageofthistechnologyvaries
widely.Teacherscanusethemtospiceuplectureswithperiodicassessmentbreaks,gauge
studentopinions,orcreatequizzeswithstudentcompetition.Whenpollingiscomplete,the
classanswersareprojectedontoascreen,typicallyintheformofahistogram.Thistypeof
softwaregivesbothstudentsandtheteacherimmediatefeedbacktoassessany
misunderstandings(Caldwell,2012).
ThetwosoftwareprogramsthatIaminterestinginutilizingareKahoot!andPoll
Everywhere.Theyaresimilaraudienceresponsesystemshowever,PollEverywhereisbetterfor
informalassessmentsduringlectures(PollEverywhere,2014),whileKahoot
!
workswellwith
thegamificationofquizzes(Kahoot
!,
2014).Whilethereisnospecificresearchthatstates

audienceresponsesystemsincreasestudentunderstanding,instructorsdosaytheyincrease
studentengagement.Instructorsreportlesssleeping,morediscussion,andimprovedalertness
duringclass.Themainfeaturesthatstudentslikeaboutaudienceresponsesystems(ARS)isits
anonymityandcomparingonesanswerswiththerestoftheclass.Infact,studentsreportthat
theyaretwiceaslikelytoworkonaproblempresentedduringclassiftheiranswerwas
submittedbyaclickerversusashowofhands(Caldwell,2012).Whenteachingmiddleschool
andlowincomestudents,increasingstudentengagementisoneofmytoppriorities.Increased
engagementsleadstoastrongerclassroomculture,whichhelpsstudentcognition.Theaudience
responsesystemisalsoagreattooltoinformmyinstruction.Gettinginstantaneousfeedbackon
whetherstudentsaregraspingthematerialmidwaythroughthelessonletsmeknowtokeep
teachingoraddresscurrentmisconceptions.
Thenextstepoftechnologyintegrationwouldbeflippingmyclassroom.Iknowthisisa
hugeundertaking,butsoftwareresourceslikeEDpuzzleandEducreationaremakingthisprocess
easier.WithEDpuzzle,teacherscantakepremadevideosandinsertcomments,questions,and
voiceoverstomakethemtheirown.Furthermore,whenteachersembedquestions,theyareable
tolookatstudentresponsestoseeiflearningoccurred(EDPuzzle,2014).EducreationisaniPad
appthatallowsteacherstoeasilycreatetheirownvideostodelivertostudents(Educreation,
2014).Whilestudentshavesaidthattheypreferinpersonlecturestovideolectures,theydo
preferaninteractiveclassroomoverlectures(Bishop
&Verlerger
,2013).Anotherbenefitof
flippedclassroomsisthattheyspeakthelanguageoftodaysstudents,whoareaccustomedto
turningtothewebandsocialmediaforinformationandinteraction(Goodwin
&Miller
,2013).
Imayfinditweirdtoinstructmyselfthroughavideoaboutbinomialfactorsandthedifference

ofsquareshowever,studentsgotoappsandthewebtofindtheirnews,connectwithpeers,and
hangoutviavideoovertalkingonthephone.Meetingstudentsinhowtheyinteractoutsideof
classisonewaytofindfavoraswellasinstructviathemediumbywhichtheylearnand
disseminateinformation.
Researchhasbeenmixedabouttheflippedclassroom,butjustlikeothertechnology,
whenitisusedproperly,itincreasesstudentachievement.InMichigan,ClintondaleHighSchool
beganflippingtheirclassroomwhenover40%oftheirstudentswerefailingfreshmanmath.
Afteroneyear,thefailurerateamongfreshmenfellfrom44%to13%.Juniorstakingthestate
mathexamimprovedtheirpassingrateby10%.Ihaveheardsometeacherssaythatflipped
classroomsareformotivatedstudentshowever,atClintondale,over75%ofthestudent
populationisonfreeandreducedlunch.Theschoolexperimentedwithideastodelivercontent
outsideofschool.Most,ifnotallstudents,though,hadaccesstoasmartphonenomattertheir
socioeconomicstatus.Therefore,studentswatchedthevideosbeforeclass,afterschool,orin
studyhall,allowingthemtonotusetheirdataplansforschoolpurposes(Finkel,2012).In
anothersurveyof453teachersthatflippedtheirclassroom,67%reportedincreasedtestscores,
80%reportedimprovedstudentattitudes,and99%ofteacherssaidtheywouldfliptheir
classroomsagainnextyear(Goodwin
&Miller
,2013).Withsurveyresultslikethis,itishardto
argueagainstflippedclassroomswhenbothstudentsandteachersaresatisfiedwithitsresults.
Oneofthegreatestadvantagesoftheflippedclassroomisstudentshavingtheabilityto
controltheirlearning.Especiallyforstudentswithspecialneeds,havingthecapacitytopause
andrewindinstructionwhenevertheneedarisesallowsthemtoconstructknowledgeattheirown
pace(Finkel,2012).Additionally,teachersareabletospendmoreoneononetimewith

students.Insteadoftalkingatthemformostoftheclass,teachersareabletocirculateandtalk
withstudentswhenevermisunderstandingsarise(Goodwin
&Miller
,2013).Beingateacherof
the21stCentury,morethanever,studentsseemtocraveindividualattention.Oftentimes,Iwill
teachalessonupattheboardafterwards,somestudentsareconfused.Iwillgoovertothese
students,usethesamevocabularyandstepsthatIjusttalkedaboutattheboard,andlearning
occurs.Flippingtheclassroomwouldallowmetobewithstudentsliketheywant,aswellas
givethemcontroloftheirknowledgeconstruction.
WhileImaybehindthecurvewiththis,thelastthingIwouldliketointegrateintomy
classroomisaninteractivewhiteboard.TheschoolsIhavetaughtatneverhadthefundstoafford
them.Roblyerdescribesinteractivewhiteboardsasawhiteboardthatisconnectedtoacomputer
anddigitalprojectorthatallowsinformationtobeprojectedontoascreen.Thisinformationcan
bemanipulated,gamified,andsavedforlaterusewithspecialpensandfeatures.Sincemy
classroomisflipped,theinteractivewhiteboardwouldbeusedforsmallgroupinstructionor
games.Oneofthewhiteboardsgreatestfeaturesissavingnotesanddrawingsfromateaching
sessionthatcanbebroughtbacklaterforuse.Havingthisoptionwouldbeidealfortheteacher
topostontheclasswebsiteforthosethatwereabsentorforstudentstoreviewlateron.The
interactivewhiteboardisalsopopularamongstudentsbecauseitishandson.Studentshaveto
moveobjectsortouchthescreeninordertoansweramathproblem(2013).Featureslikethis
increasestudentengagementandmotivation.Furthermore,whenstudentsaretiredandfrustrated
withthecoursecontent,thistechnologygivesmetheabilitytodifferentiateinstruction,which
helpsstudentattitudes.Thegames,interactivepen,andstimulatingscreencan,sometimes,trick

studentsintothinkingtheyarenotevenlearning.Theinteractivewhiteboardisperfectfor
difficultunitslikefactoringinmath.
Itisimportanttonotethatthemereadditionoftechnologyintheclassroomdoesnot
guaranteethatstudentswilllearnmore.Ittakesconsiderableeducationandexpertisetobe
comfortableintheuseoftechnologyasateachingtooltoperformbettercomparedtonotusingit
all(Lyublinkskaya
&Tournaki
,2012).TheNationalCenterforEducationStatisticsfoundthat
only33%ofteachersfeelpreparedtousecomputerrelatedtoolsintheirteaching(Minor,
LosikeSedimo,Reglin,
&Royster
2012).Therefore,evenwiththeadditionofanaudience
responsesystem,flippedclassroom,andaninteractivewhiteboard,qualityinschoolprofessional
developmentisneeded.Researchhasshownthattechnologytrainingisthelynchpinincreating
effectiveinstructionaldesign.In2012,arural,Virginiamiddleschool,wasconcernedabouttheir
eighthgraderspassingthestatetestforPreAlgebra.Inthepastthreeyears,theirpassingscores
forthestatetestfellfrom63%to54%.Comparingthemselvestotheirdistrict,70%ofstudents
passedthetest,while85%ofstudentspassedthetestaroundthestate.Withthesedismalscores
hurtingtheirschoolcultureandpopulation,theadministrationdecidedtoadoptaprofessional
developmentprogramthattrainedtheirteacherswithSMARTBoardtechnologystrategies.For
twelveweeks,teachersspenttwohoursafterschooleachweekfortraining.Theylearnedabout
thedifferentfeaturesoftheSMARTboardandhowtointegratethetechnologyintotheir
curriculumstobetterinstructstudents.Studentstookapreandpostprealgebratestbeforeand
aftertheprofessionaldevelopment.Beforethetwelveweeks,thestudentsaveragetestscorewas
363.25,intherangeoffailingthestatetest.Afterthetwelveweeks,theaveragetestscorewas
405.45,whichisintherangeofpassingproficiency(Minor,LosikeSedimo,Reglin,
&Royster

2012).Theaveragetestscorerose42.2points,illustratingthatwhenteachersareproperly
trainedtoutilizetechnologyintheirclassrooms,studentachievementincreases.
AnotherresearchstudywasconductedonAlgebrateachersinNewYorkafterthey
receivedprofessionaldevelopmentonincorporatingTPACKstrategiesintotheirclassroom.The
traininglastedthroughouttheyearwithinschoolobservationsandcoaching.Whileteachersdid
notimprovewitheverylessontheydeveloped,theteacherswhowereobservedandevaluated
withhigherTPACKlevels,theirstudentsscoredhigherontheendofcoursetests
(Lyublinkskaya
&Tournaki
,2012).Inordertocreateintellectuallypowerfuland
technologyrichlessonsintheclassroom,teachersneedsoundprofessionaldevelopment.These
researchstudiesarejustafewexamplesprovingthisimportance.
Factoringisadifficultunittoteach.Illadmit,whentherearesevenpossiblewaysto
factorapolynomialequation,solvingitcorrectlyisadifficulttasktoaccomplish.By
incorporatingaudienceresponsesystems,aflippedclassroom,andinteractivewhiteboards,
researchhasproventhatstudentengagementandmotivationincreases.Severalteachersand
researchstudiesalsostatedthesetechnologicaltoolsraisedstudentachievement.Continued
professionaldevelopment,though,willonlyfurtherandsolidifyteachersandstudentssuccess.
ThroughmytraininghereatNCSU,Ihopetointegratethesetechnologiesintomyclassroom,
andiftheyareopentolearning,passonthisknowledgetomycolleaguesaswell.

WorksCited
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Educreations.(2014).RetrievedfromEducreationswebsite:
https://www.educreations.com/

Finkel,E.(2012,November).Flippingthescriptink12.RetrievedfromDistrictAdministrator
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https://getkahoot.com/

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NationalGovernorsAssociationCenterforBestPractices&CouncilofChiefStateSchool
Officers.(2010).
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