Technology class format versus traditional class format in undergraduate algebra

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two teaching strategies, namely, technology‐assisted and traditional methods of teaching in undergraduate algebra classes. Fifty‐eight second‐year mathematics education undergraduate students in an algebra class were randomly divided in equal numbers into two groups. One group was taught in a traditional classroom setting and the other group was taught in a technology‐rich environment. In order to be in a good position to judge the quality and extent of student learning, a pre‐teaching test was administered to find out how much algebra the students knew before the start of lectures. An identical test was re‐administered to both classes as post‐teaching tests seven weeks later. The effects of teaching were examined between the classes, as well as within each class. Investigations on whether students’ gender was a determinant of their scores in the pre–post teaching tests were carried out, and independent t‐tests were conducted to determine this aspect. There was evidence to suggest that the incorporation of technology in teaching algebra can improve students’ achievement in algebra.