Impact of Math Snacks Games on Students' Conceptual Understanding
Winburg, Karin; Chamberlain, Barbara; Valdez, Alfred; Trujillo, Karen; Stanford, Theodore B. (2016). Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, v35 n2 p173-193. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1095367
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examining741Students, grade5
Distance Learning Rapid Review
Review Details
Reviewed: March 2021
- Distance Learning Rapid Review (findings for Math Snacks)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with low cluster-level attrition and individual-level non-response.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Measure of Mathematics Learning II (MML II) |
Math Snacks vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
28.70 |
26.37 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Urban
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New Mexico
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Race Other or unknown 76% White 24% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 75% Not Hispanic or Latino 25%
Study Details
Setting
The study was conducted in the fall of 2013 and in the spring of 2014 in a low-income, urban school district in southern New Mexico.
Study sample
The study included 48 teachers (25 in the intervention group and 23 in the comparison group) and 741 students (361 in the intervention group and 380 in the comparison group). The students were mostly Hispanic (75 percent), with 24 percent Caucasian and 1 percent Other. The authors do not specify the proportions of students who qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, but refer to the school district as low-income. The study authors do not provide any further details about the sample’s characteristics.
Intervention Group
The Math Snacks intervention is comprised of six animations and five games. The students in the study played four of the five games: Monster Schoolbus, Gate, Ratio Rumble, and Game Over Gopher. In addition to using the four games, teachers engaged with students in guided discussions and led students in additional inquiry-based activities related to gameplay. The protocol for each Math Snacks game included: a gameplay session with group discussion (30 – 40 minutes), hands-on activities related to gameplay (30 – 40 minutes), and a second gameplay session with a final discussion (30 – 40 minutes). Students received Math Snacks for a total of six to eight hours of classroom instruction during the five weeks of intervention, in addition to the regular district mathematics curriculum. Students were also encouraged to use the games and materials outside of class. Students in the intervention group played games over 74 days and spent 4 hours and 53 minutes in games).
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison group received the regular district mathematics curriculum (business-as-usual) during the five-week period that the intervention group received the Math Snacks intervention. After the five weeks were completed in Phase I and the Phase I outcome data were collected, the students in the comparison group received the Math Snacks intervention.
Support for implementation
Math Snacks is a free resource that is available online and includes supporting instructional materials, like teacher and learner guides, how-to videos, and comic book transcripts. The intervention is available in English and Spanish, and the learner guide includes support for English learners. No other support for implementation was provided by the study team or the Math Snacks developer for this study.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
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A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).