The effects of the use of graphing calculators on the achievement and critical thinking ability of college freshmen in algebra

This study investigates and compares the effects of graphing calculators on the mathematics achievements in two classes in College Algebra at Philippine Normal University during the second semester, SY 1999-2000.The study used two groups: one is the experimental group and the other, the control group. The experimental group used the graphing calculators during the lecture, the discovery phase of the lessons, the exercises and the test, except the posttest while the control group used an ordinary calculator or a scientific calculator for computational purposes only. To measure the achievement in the critical thinking ability of the respondents, the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal was used. The data gathered in this study were tabulated and analyzed using the mean, the standard deviation, t-test for dependent and independent samples, and analysis of covariance with pretest and Math 1 grade as covariates.Results of the study revealed that there was a difference between the pretest means and posttest means for both the experimental and control groups. This implies that learning took place under the two methods of teaching. There was also a significant difference in the achievement of both the experimental and control groups.The researcher concluded that using graphing calculators and using the traditional method of teaching can help improve the critical thinking abilities of the respondents. However, the use of graphing calculator was found more effective in improving the critical thinking abilities than the traditional method of teaching