| Virtual Manipulatives (VMs) are computer-based, dynamic, visual representations of mathematics concepts, which have become widely used in mathematics instruction in recent years. Despite their wide use, there is little empirical research about the use of VMs in mathematics learning and teaching. To fill this gap, this study examined the effects of using VMs with two different instructional approaches on students' learning of slope. Approximately 50 students who were taking a remedial mathematics course at Michigan State University completed all sessions of the study. They were randomly assigned into two groups: OVM and SVM groups. After completing a pretest assessing their initial knowledge of slope, participants were randomly assigned into two groups to complete four 30- to 45-minute intervention sessions. Students in the OVM group worked with VMs to respond to open-ended exploratory questions students in the SVM group used the same VMs to respond to structured mathematics questions. Then, students completed a posttest consisting of the same set of questions as the pretest. OVM students showed considerably higher pre- to posttest gain scores than SVM students on items requiring conceptual knowledge, whereas SVM students obtained notably higher gains on items requiring procedural and a combination of conceptual and procedural knowledge. These results suggest that VMs can be used with various instructional approaches to improve different types of students' mathematics knowledge. |
