Program Evaluation of Educational Software into the Elementary

School Math Curriculum is a research article. This article details a research

study preformed in one elementary school in which the researchers wanted
to find out more about teachers perceptions of math software that was used
in the classroom to improve students test scores on a state test. The
research was conducted through the use of interviews of six teachers at the
school who used the software. Researchers found that all participants used
both math software and small group instruction however not the exact same
format was used in each classroom. They also found that all participants had
a positive view of the math software and believed that it had a positive
impact on their students both in the classroom and on the state test. The
results of this study were used by the administration to decide upon further
implementation of the program and the amount of funds that would be spent
on the math software. In conclusion the researchers found that the math
software was overall a useful tool.
I found this article to be somewhat useful and informative. I though
that the article and the research were a good starting place but both lacked
enough information to make either very useful. I think the article and the
research were beneficial to the school at which the research was performed.
They were able to determine if the software was worth the time and
monetary investment and as a result of the study they were able to
determine that it was a useful program and that it was helping the students
so they should implement the software with more classes and teachers. I
think the basis of the research was good but it should have included more
data from a variety of different schools in various counties so that there
would be a broader range of participants and a truer analysis could be
provided for others outside of the single school. I also think the article
should have been more specific about what grade levels were using the
program and what the program was. The article only gave the information
that it was an elementary school and the name of a a similar math program,
no the actual one used. More information could help others to know if they
should try the same program at their school. For myself this article had a
minor impact. I was able to find out that math software when used in
conjunction with small group instruction can benefit my students. We have
several math programs available at the school where I teach therefore I may
be more likely to try those programs along with my traditional methods after
reading this research article.

Lets Get Physical: K-12 Students Using Wearable Devices to Obtain

and Learn about Data from Physical Activities is a professional practice
article. This article explores four different uses of wearable fitness trackers
in the classroom. The article gives ideas and explanations of how such
devices can be used to teach about more than just physical activity in a
physical education or health class. They can also be used to collect and

analyze data in various grade levels to help teach math concepts. The ideas
presented were having high school students track their heart rate during a
variety of different activities and analyzing the data, creating a recess
competition for a group of fifth graders who monitored their data collected
from Fitbits, allowing fifth graders to create their own research experiment
using Fitbits, and having students analyze the difference in steps of tall vs.
short students. Each of these ideas were implemented in actual classrooms
and the results were positive. Students enjoyed the activities and in several
of the cases took charge and went above and beyond the original objective.
The results of the study concluded that wearable fitness trackers used in the
classroom can foster engagement and encourage project based learning.
They are also quick and easy ways to collect a lot of data that students can
analyze in multiple ways.
This article was useful to myself as well as to any Math teacher in K-12.
The ideas that were provided could be used as is or could easily be adapted
to fit any grade level ranging from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. I
liked how the ideas used multiple devices and were across multiple ages so
you could see that these ideas do not have to only be used with older
students. Elementary students could benefit as well. The only problem that
I see within the article was the reflection on issues that may arise when
using such fitness trackers. Problems such as integration, privacy concerns,
student self-esteem, and transferring data were all brought up but none were
thoroughly addressed and no solutions were offered. As a teacher, if I
wanted to use these devices it would be nice to know more about the risks
and the problems I may run into as well as how to solve these problems. The
authors could have provided more detailed information about dealing with
each issue and how they overcame them during the course of their study
involving students. This would have been beneficial. After reading this
article I could see myself using these devices to help teach students in my
class about graphs or about measurement. We could easily collect data and
make different types of graphs such as bar graphs to use during math
lessons. I could see adapting the ideas from the article to use with students
to get them motivated about physical activity and to encourage them to
explore new ideas on their own.
Put Your Robot in, Put Your Robot Out: Sequencing Through
Programming Robots in Early Childhood is a theory in practice article. This
article and the research behind it are provided to show the flaw in Piagets
claim that young children in the pre-operational stage could not sequence. It
also was conducted to show that introduction to and an understanding of
technology at a young age can promote social, linguistic, and cognitive
learning (Kazakoff and Bers, 2014, p. 554). Children who participated in the
study were given a sequencing test and parents and children were
interviewed concerning their technology use. Then through three hour and a
half sessions were taught how to program their own Lego robot. After
completing the sessions children attempted to program the robot on their

own and they were later given another sequencing test. The result of the
sequencing test showed that children showed a significant increase in their
sequencing ability proving the researchers hypothesis. This study concludes
that teaching young students about programming computers at a young age
can have a positive effect on their learning.
I thought that this was a god article and a great idea for a research
study. Being a teacher I see many kids come through my class and not only
do we use technology daily in the classroom nearly all of them have access
to a variety of technology at home. I think that having them understand the
tech that they are using is a good way to get them more interested in
science and engineering and could help promote inquiry based learning and
encourage students to explore more on their own. This article is useful for
classroom teachers especially those who teach kindergarten through second
grade as well as parents. Parents and teachers alike can see the benefits of
how technology can benefit their child if used properly. While I think this is a
wonderful idea the process of actually implementing something like this into
a classroom could be quite time consuming and could be a financial burden
for the school. Neither of these issues were addressed in the article.
Teachers would need extensive training themselves on programming or
outside instructors would need to be brought in, both at additional cost to
the school. I thought that this article was beneficial to me because even
though I may not be able to do this currently in my classroom it is a good
idea for the future and it shows that technology can improve students
cognitive development if used the correct way.
Kiriakidis, P. P., & Johnson, T. (2015). Program Evaluation: Integration of
Educational Software into the Elementary School Math Curriculum. Romanian
Journal For Multidimensional Education / Revista Romaneasca Pentru
Educatie Multidimensionala, 7(2), 55-65. doi:10.18662/rrem/2015.0702.05
Lee, V. R., Drake, J., & Williamson, K. (2015). Let's Get Physical: K-12 Students
Using Wearable Devices to Obtain and Learn about Data from Physical
Activities. Techtrends: Linking Research and Practice To Improve Learning,
59(4), 46-53.
Kazakoff, E. R., & Bers, M. U. (2014). Put Your Robot In, Put Your Robot Out:
Sequencing Through Programming Robots in Early Childhood. Journal Of
Educational Computing Research, 50(4), 553-573.