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How does length of time of access to handhelds affect learning?
While longer time of graphics calculator use may increase learning, quality of use counts more than quantity.
A review of 43 key comparative and interpretive studies examined this issue. The review concluded:
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| • | Length of usage time affects the impact on learning. |
| • | Quality of use counts more than quantity of use: learners whose teachers illustrated connections between representations and emphasised concepts had greater success with less time of use than did learners whose teacher focused only on technological and algebraic approaches. |
| • | Handheld graphics technology can be underused - especially if learners are not sure how to make use of it in their work. |
| • | The technology can be over used - learners accept information uncritically. |
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| However, a peer-reviewed meta-analysis of 54 of studies with the strongest form of evidence, high-quality experimental and quasi-experimental studies, found inconclusive results:
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| • | Both positive and negative effects on conceptual understanding were related to time of use. |
 Reference: (Burrill, Allison et al. 2002), Michigan State University
Reference: (Ellington 2003), Virginia Commonwealth University
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Continuous access to graphics calculators is important. Learners do better in maths when they use a graphics calculator in class and at home. In a statewide study relating graphics calculator use patterns to achievement, researchers found that:
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| • | Learners demonstrated higher levels of maths performance when a graphics calculator was used. |
| • | There was a positive correlation between the residual gain scores and learners using a classroom set of graphics calculators. |
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| The researchers then constructed a statistical model where 12% of maths achievement variability was explained by (in order):
1. Learner use of a graphics calculator;
2. Learner ownership of a graphics calculator;
3. Learner access and use of a classroom set of graphics calculator; 4. Learner familiarity in graphing more than one function;
5. Teacher familiarity in writing a program using the graphics calculator; and
6. Connecting graphics calculators to motion detectors, computers, or other graphics calculators.
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Reference: (Dimock and Sherron 2004), Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Reference: (SRI 2008) SRI, Inc., Menlo Park, CA
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