EJMT Abstract

Many researchers have explored the use of the SMART Board in elementary and secondary mathematics education. There is a lack of SMART Board research at the post-secondary level. The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of an electronic SMART Board in an undergraduate elementary statistics course at a two-year technical college in south-central New York. Students were recruited from two sections of the researcher’s statistics course. One section of the course (test group) was taught using a SMART Board, while the other section of the course (control group) did not have a SMART Board available. The control group was taught as it was in previous semesters, with the instructor presenting the lecture on the document camera. For the test group, the SMART Board allowed the instructor to readily post the lecture notes (in video format, including audio) on the college online course management system for students to view. This was not the case for the control group. Other than the differences noted above, the course content and presentation was identical for each section. Final course grades were compared using ANCOVA. Although the test group out-performed the control group, the difference was not statistically significant. The results also included a summary of student responses to questions regarding use of the SMART Board. Students in the test group reported that use of the SMART Board increased their attentiveness and engagement during lecture, and found the video postings beneficial to learning the course material.