Abstract
Today’s students increasingly engage in online environments, with ready access to digital resources and mobile technologies. While much of this activity is socially motivated, the internet is also a source of knowledge for students and frequently accessed for school assignments, projects and assessment purposes. As mathematics continues to be an area in which many students experience difficulties, it is not surprising that a recent Google search produced 57,600,000 results for ‘help with mathematics’. Current research, however, is limited in terms of documenting students’ use of such resources, particularly when they are self-initiated and often accessed in an out of classroom environment. This paper reports on a study that investigated the use of mathematical online resources accessed by students in Grades 5–9, with a particular focus on evaluating the effectiveness of Khan Academy, an online tutorial site. Data collected through surveys and interviews showed that while students did access online sites, particularly in the later years of schooling, they varied in both their reasons for doing so and their perceptions of how useful these sites were. The findings add to the limited research in this area and have practical implications for students and teachers, including the potential to challenge the traditional role of the teacher.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ACARA (2012). Australian curriculum: Mathematics. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Mathematics/Content-structure
Attard, C. (2010). Students’ experiences of mathematics during the transition from primary to secondary school. In L. Sparrow, B. Kissane & C. Hurst (Eds.), Shaping the future of mathematics education (Proceedings of the 33rd annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 53–60). Fremantle, WA: MERGA.
Attard, C. (2011). The influence of teachers on student engagement with mathematics in the middle years. Paper presented at the AAMT23/MERGA 34 combined conference, 7–9 July 2011, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
Attard, C. (2013). Introducing iPads into primary mathematics pedagogies: An exploration of two teachers’ experiences. In V. Steinle, L. Ball, & C. Bardini (Eds.), Mathematics education: Yesterday, today and tomorrow (Proceedings of the 36th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 58–65). Melbourne, VIC: MERGA.
Attard, C., & Curry, C. (2012). Exploring the use of iPads to engage young students with mathematics. In J. Dindyal, L. P. Cheng, & S. F. Ng (Eds.), Mathematics education: Expanding horizons (Proceedings of the 35 th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 75–82). Singapore: MERGA.
Beatty, R., & Geiger, V. (2010). Technology, communication and collaboration: Rethinking communities of inquiry, learning and practice. In C. Hoyles & J. B. Lagrange (Eds.), Mathematics education and technology—rethinking the terrain (pp. 251–284). New York, NY: Springer.
Bergman, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: reach every student in every class every day. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.
Beswick, K., & Muir, T. (2011). Interactive whiteboards as potential catalysts of pedagogical change in secondary mathematics teaching. Paper presented at the AAMT23/MERGA 34 combined conference, 7–9 July 2011, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
Bobis, J., Higgens, J., Cavanagh, M., & Roche, A. (2012). Professional knowledge of practising teachers of mathematics. In B. Perry, T. Lowrie, R. Logan, A. MacDonald, & J. Greenless (Eds.), Research in mathematics education in Australasia 2008–2011 (pp. 313–340). Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense.
Civil, M. (2006). Working towards equity in mathematics education: A focus on learners, teachers, and parents. In S. Alatorre, J.L. Cortina, M. Sáiz, & A. Méndez (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Eighth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1, 30–50). Mérida, Mexico: Universidad Pedagógica Nacional
Fitzallen, N. (2008). Validation of an assessment instrument developed for eliciting student prior learning in graphing and data analysis. In M. Goos, R. Brown, & K. Makar (Eds.), Navigating currents and charting directions (Proceedings of the 31st annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 203–209). Brisbane, Qld: MERGA.
Galbraith, P., Goos, M., Renshaw, P., & Geiger, V. (2000). Emergent properties of teaching-learning in technology-enriched classrooms. (Short communication). In J. Bana & A. Chapman (Eds.), Mathematics education beyond 2000 (p.690). Sydney: MERGA.
Geiger, V. (2005). Master, servant, partner and extension of self: A finer grained view of this taxonomy. In P. Clarkson, A. Downton, D. Gronn, M. Horne, A. McDonough, R. Pierce, & A. Roche (Eds.), Building connections: theory, research and practice (Proceedings of the 28 th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Melbourne (pp. 369–376). Sydney: MERGA.
Goos, M., & Bennison, A. (2008). Surveying the technology landscape: teachers’ use of technology in secondary mathematics classrooms. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 20(3), 102–130.
Hamdan, N., McKnight, P., McKnight, K., & Arfstrom, K. (2013). A review of flipped learning. Retrieved from the Flipped Learning Network, 19/3/2014, http://flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/VA01923112/Centricity/Domain/41/LitReview_FlippedLearning.pdf
Highfield, K., & Goodwin, K. (2013). Apps for mathematics learning: A review of ‘educational’ apps from the iTunes app store. In V. Steinle, L. Ball, & C. Bardini (Eds.), Mathematics education: Yesterday, today and tomorrow (Proceedings of the 36 th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 378–385). Melbourne, VIC: MERGA.
Hurst, C., Armstrong, T., & Young, M. (2011). Making a difference for Indigenous children. Paper presented at the AAMT23/MERGA 34 combined conference, 7–9 July 2011, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
Ingram, N. (2013). Mathematical engagement skills. In V. Steinle, L. Ball, & C. Bardini (Eds.), Mathematics education: Yesterday, today and tomorrow (Proceedings of the 36 th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 402–409). Melbourne, VIC: MERGA.
Kissane, B., & Kemp, M. (2008). Some calculus affordances of a graphics calculator. Australian Senior Mathematics Journal, 22(2), 15–27.
Kronholtz, J. (2012). Bell curve to the right. Education Next (Spring 2012),17-22.
MCEETYA (2003). Learning in an online world. Available: http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/ICT_LearningOnlineWorld-Content_Strategy.pdf
MCEETYA (2008). Melbourne declaration of the educational goals for young Australians.
Muir, T. (2009). At home with numeracy: Empowering parents to be active participants in their child's numeracy development. In R. Hunter, B. Bicknell, & T. Burgess (Eds.), Crossing divides (Proceedings of the 32nd annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 395–402). Wellington, NZ: MERGA.
Muir, T. (2011). Join the club: Engaging parents in mathematics education. Paper presented at the AAMT23/MERGA 34 combined conference, 7–9 July 2011, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
Muir, T. (2013). Helpwithmaths.com: Students’ use of online mathematical resources. In V. Steinle, L. Ball, & C. Bardini (Eds.), Mathematics education: Yesterday, today and tomorrow (Proceedings of the 36th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 522–529). Melbourne, VIC: MERGA.
Munns, G., & Martin, A. J. (2006). It’s all about MeE: A motivation and engagement framework. Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE, 2005). UWS Parramatta Campus, NSW.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Available: http://www.nctm.org/standards/content.aspx?id=3444
NSW Department of Education and Training (2005). Students - middle years. Retrieved from http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/about-us/statistics-and-research/public-reviews-and-enquiries/
Pritchard, R. (2004). Investigating parental attitudes and beliefs in mathematics education. In I. Putt, R. Faragher, & M. McLean (Eds.), Mathematics education for the third millenium: Towards 2010 (Proceedings of the 27 th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Townsville (pp. 478–485). Sydney: MERGA.
Skemp, R. (1978). Relational understanding and instrumental understanding. Arithmetic Teacher, 26(3), 9–15.
Srivastava, P. (2009). A practical iterative framework for qualitative data analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(1), 76–84.
Sullivan, P., & Gunningham, S. (2011). A strategy for supporting students who have fallen behind in the learning of mathematics. Paper presented at the AAMT23/MERGA 34 combined conference, 7–9 July 2011, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
Sullivan, P. A., Mousley, J., & Zevenbergen, R. L. (2005). Increasing access to mathematical thinking. Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society, 32(2), 105–109.
Sullivan, P., Tobias, S., & McDonough, A. (2006). Perhaps the decision of some students not to engage in learning mathematics in school is deliberate. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 62(1), 81–99.
Thompson, C. (2011). How Khan Academy is changing the rules of education. Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/.
Tucker, B. (2012). The flipped classroom. Education Next Winter, 2012, 82–83.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Muir, T. Google, Mathletics and Khan Academy: students’ self-initiated use of online mathematical resources. Math Ed Res J 26, 833–852 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-014-0128-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-014-0128-5