The Impact of Educational Material Use on Mathematics Achievement: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

As a result of rapid development in technology, utilizing materials in education has become important. To date, researchers have often explored the effects of using educational materials in mathematics instruction on academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to combine the empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of educational materials in mathematics. For this aim, a meta-analysis method was used in the current research. In line with the aim of the research, 54 experimental studies published between years of 2005 and 2016 were included in the meta-analysis and 58 effect sizes were calculated from these studies. The results of the meta-analysis showed that using materials in mathematics has a positive and high influence on achievement. According to analysis of mediator variables that are related to instructional characteristics, significant differences are found in the variables of mathematics topic, type of material, and application time. However, teaching with materials in mathematics did not seem to differ in effectiveness from teaching without materials, in terms of methodological characteristics of the studies.

A Review Study on the Use of Materials in Mathematics Courses in Turkey

“…Also, while using materials students had the opportunity to be able to work at their own pace, which might be the reason for the positive effect of materials on the learning of students. On the other hand, the results of some studies revealed an insignificant difference in terms of student achievement (Enki, 2014;Kul, Çelik, & Aksu, 2018;Öztürk, 2012;Tataroğlu, 2009). The reason for this result might be the duration of material uasage.…”

“…In addition, Enki (2014) found that the experimental and control group did not differ significantly when unit cubes, symmetry mirrors, and acetate papers were included in the teaching-learning process. Kul et al (2018) in their metareview study did not find a significant difference in terms of the effectiveness of instruction between teaching by including materials and without including them, but they found meaningful differences in terms of mathematics topic, type of material, and application time. For this reason, there is a need for systematic investigation of studies about the effects of material usage while teaching different subjects of mathematics in different grade levels on the cognitive and affective outcomes of students.…”

“…In this sense, the use of materials makes mathematics more understandable and assists students in their comprehension of abstract mathematical concepts (Domino, 2010). Similarly, Kul, Çelik and Aksu (2018) stated that materials are important to construct learners' mathematical concepts and to be able to associate these concepts with their previous knowledge and experience. Also, Murphy (2016) revealed that materials provide higher accuracy in computational tasks, a deeper understanding of the mathematical topics and create a less-anxious mathematics environment.…”

“…However, seven of these studies were conducted in mathematics courses. Also, Kul et al (2018) included 54 studies conducted in mathematics courses at different grade levels using a variety of materials in their meta-analysis study. However, they included only the studies which included computer software and internet sources to investigate the effect of them on mathematics achievement.…”

The Impact of Instructional Technology and Material Design Course on Pre-service Teachers

“…In mathematics education, learning settings that employ different teaching materials like symbols, concrete objects, pictures and diagrams are gaining importance in the concretization of concepts and relationships (Clements & McMillen, 1996;Lesh, Post, & Behr, 1987). It was often reported that using concrete material is an effective way to increase the mathematics achievement (Sherman & Bisanz, 2009;Kul, Celik, & Aksu, 2018). It was stated that the use of concrete materials in education makes it easier for students to learn mathematical concepts (Boggan, Harper, & Whitmire, 2010;Carbonneau, Marley, & Selig, 2013), makes conceptual learning possible (Dienes, 1973), ensures opportunities for permanent learning (Cass, Cates, Smith, & Jackson, 2003;Martin & Schwartz, 2005), increases individual critical thinking skills (Apperson, Laws, & Scepansky, 2006), provides opportunities for problem solving (Kelly, 2006), and contributes to the development of positive attitudes towards learning (Aydogdu-Iskenderoglu & Taskin, 2015;Kelly, 2006;Yetkin-Ozdemir, 2008;Aydin-Unal & Ipek, 2009).…”