Leigh Cooper

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The Effect of Math Blaster (Ages 9-12) on
Fifth-grade Female Students' Testing Scores

• Leigh Cooper

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Introduction

• Took place for a one-week period during December,
  2006
• Independent variable was the method of
  preparation (either playing Math Blaster or
  completing worksheets)
• The purpose of this study was to determine if
  math computer games were a valuable educational
  resource when used as a math resource for
  fifth-grade girls
• Math Blaster series has been around for years
• I was interested in Math Blasters educational
  value

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Materials and Methods

• Pre-test (and post-test) included 10 addition,
  subtraction, and multiplication problems with
  fractions and decimals
• Students were seated two-to-a-table in a hallway
  at their school
• 8 minutes allotted for pre- and post-test
• Participants were identified by a number
• Participants divided into either experimental or
  control group
• The independent variable is the post-test score
  minus the pre-test score
• Experimental--- played the math computer game,
  Math Blaster, on a laptop computer for fifteen
  minutes a day for four days
• Control---two math worksheets with five addition,
  subtraction, and multiplication questions
• Participants took the post-test

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Pre-test and Post-test

• Directions You have eight (8) minutes to
  complete these math problems. You may not use a
  calculator.
• 1 7
• 3 8
• 2. 1.05 1.95
• 25.6 14.4
• 130 63.8
• 999 468
• 62.35 37.65
• 327 x 11
• 29 x 32
• 72 x 64
• 10 19 8

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Example Worksheet

• 4 6
• 5 7
• 95 0.50
• 40.6 25.2
• 75 33.2
• 3 2 10

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Results

• Math Blaster (Ages 9-12) does not affect
  fifth-grade female students math testing scores
• The post-test score minus the pre-test score was
  used to determine which group performed better
• Most of the participants did not improve their
  score from the pre-test
• Three of the participants (control group) did
  worse on the post-test than on the pre-test
• As tested by a two-sample t-test assuming equal
  variance, the p-value is 0.42
• The alpha value is 0.05

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Results
Figure 1. Each participants post-test score
minus pre-test score.
Participants 1 through 6 are in the experimental
group. Participants 7 through 13 are in the
control group.
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Discussion and Conclusions

• The original hypothesis was, If a fifth-grade
  female participant plays Math Blaster (Ages
  9-12), then she will have a higher post-test than
  a fifth-grade female participant who does not
  play Math Blaster (Ages 9-12).
• The hypothesis was not supported by statistical
  evidence
• According to one study, computer programs can be
  beneficial for students (Koedinger, Anderson,
  Hadley, and Mark, 1997)
• One factor that might have influenced the
  participants performance on the pre-test and the
  post-test was the female participants low
  self-confidence in the subject of math
  (Kenney-Benson, Pomerantz, Ryan, and Patrick,
  2006)
• In the future, it may be practical to lengthen
  the time that the participants play Math Blaster
  (Ages 9-12)
• Another possibility would be to utilize other
  teaching strategies

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Literature Cited

• Kenney-Bennson, G.A., Pomerantz, E.M., Ryan, A.,
  Patrick, H. (2006). Sex differences in math
  performance the role of childrens approach to
  schoolwork. Developmental Psychology, 42, 11-26.
• Koedinger, K.R., Anderson, J.R., Hadley, W.H.,
  Mark, M.A. (1997). Intelligent tutoring goes to
  school in the big city. International Journal of
  Artificial Intelligence in Education, 8, 30-43.
• Pictures taken from the computer game Math
  Blaster Ages 9-12

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