Effects of Computerized Feedback on Performing and Debugging Algebraic Transformations

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Abstract
This article presents research about the effects of computerized feedback on the way students carry out algebraic transformations and how they debug their own working processes. Twenty-five seventh graders met for two-hour weekly sessions in a computer lab, over the course of twelve weeks. They were divided into four groups, each group working with a different version of the same experimental software. The software creates an environment conducive to student experimentation in the transforming of algebraic expressions. It allows the user to carry out processes of algebraic transformation and it indicates the effect each transformation has on the expression. One group of students used a version of the software which provided a graph of each step in the transformation, in addition to a “difference” graph which showed the difference between the expressions in question. A second group worked with judgmental feedback. The third group used a symbolic manipulator aid. And the fourth group received no feedback at all. Observations showed that judgmental feedback had positive effects on the process, but that the students still lacked the motivation and/or ability to complete the tasks correctly. The feedback had more significant effects on the first and third groups: the manipulator aid motivated the students to obtain a correct product; the graph feedback motivated them to make algebraic investigations.

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