Impact of a digital device on mathematics achievement in primary school: a randomized trial

International audienceThis study evaluates a digital device coupling programming using the Scratch software and explicit verbalization in order to develop students’ mathematical skills at Grades 4 and 5. Mathematics learning in France is a concerning issue. Students show recurring difficulties in this area, yet predictive of academic success. Differences between lower performing and higher performing pupils are increasing. French students suffer from math anxiety, which impedes the learning process. We use the approach of computational thinking to improve learning in mathematics. Digital can enhance understanding; in particular, programming would enable the development of abstraction abilities. We hypothesize that this device will improve mathematics acquisitions and reduce pupils’ anxiety toward mathematics. In this study, teachers (N = 109) and their elementary school pupils (N = 2576) were divided according to two conditions: "digital" (n = 1520) and "paper" (n = 953). Pupils’ achievement and math anxiety were assessed through standardized tests before and after the experiment. Additional achievement tests were assessed before and after sequences. Both groups addressed the same mathematical concepts; whereas the experimental group had a programming approach followed by explicit verbalization in order to translate the program into mathematical writing. Our first analyzes show that there is no difference in the evolution of pupils’ achievement with or without digital approach. There was, however, a significant decrease with low magnitude of anxiety in the digital condition. Further analyzes will be conducted to determine whether this effect is moderated by individual characteristics