From Digital Workbooks to Digital Schoolbooks: Pre-Practice Instructional Support in Authentic Digital Mathematics Learning

Source abstract

Digital learning platforms provide extensive support for learning mathematics but this supporttypically happens during practice. However, less is known about whether instructional supportprovided before practice by digital learning platforms is associated with better subsequentperformance in authentic large-scale digital learning settings. Here, we examined differentforms of instructional support embedded in a digital mathematics learning platform used inschools across Germany. Initially designed primarily as a digital workbook for practicingmathematical problems, the platform was recently extended toward a digital schoolbook byadding blackboards that learners can access before practice to obtain additional instructionalsupport. In particular, Explore blackboards provide opportunities to inspect and connectmathematical relationships, whereas Secure blackboards organize relevant definitions, rules,examples, and relationships before practice. Using large-scale log data from 9,293 learnersacross 74,801 problems and a within-subject design, we compared learners’ performance onmathematical problems in a baseline condition (Exercise Only), in which they received noadditional instructional support, with their performance in three other conditions in which theyreceived instructional support before practice (i.e., Explore, Secure, and Explore & Secure).We observed significantly lower error rates following all three forms of instructional supportrelative to the Exercise Only condition. These findings extend previous work by showing thatinstructional support provided by a digital learning platform before practice is associated withbetter subsequent performance in an authentic, large-scale learning setting. More broadly, theyhighlight the potential value of providing instructional support before practice on digitalmathematics learning platforms.