A Comparison of iPads and Worksheets on Math Skills of High School Students with Emotional Disturbance

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The authors used an alternating treatments design to compare the effects of a worksheet condition and an iPad condition on math fluency and active academic engagement during a high school math class in an alternative school setting. Following group instruction, the three participants engaged in independent seatwork either by completing problems on a worksheet or completing problems presented on an iPad. Based on visual analyses, students solved more math problems correctly in less time and demonstrated higher levels of active engagement in the iPad condition as compared to the worksheet condition. Social validity assessments indicated that the teacher and three students preferred the iPad condition to the worksheet condition during the math lessons. A discussion on study limitations, implications, and future research directions is included.