The effects of using technology enhanced learning (TEL) to develop learners’ automatic recall of number facts in an innovate intervention approach within the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) mathematics curriculum

Abstract

This quasi-experiment aimed to investigate the effects of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) in the form of an iPad app within a newly designed integrated approach to mathematics intervention in a United Kingdom (UK) special school. The focus of the 6-week intervention programme was to develop special needs learners’ automatic recall of addition facts using the ‘Hit the Button’ iPad app. The effects of this app, which covers number facts at an abstract level, was compared with the popular Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) method. The CPA method had previously been used in the research setting within a one-hour weekly intervention setup but was found to have had limited impact. As a result, this study aimed to investigate the effects of TEL in relation to the CPA method when used within an innovative, integrated approach to mathematics intervention. The study’s intentional selection of an app using symbolic numbers at an abstract level highlighted the importance of concrete and pictorial methods for developing special educational need and disabilities (SEND) learners’ ability to recall number facts and their understanding of the underlying addition concepts.

The study employed a pre-test-post-test non-equivalent group design and used a more recent neurocognitive assessment, the Feifer Assessment of Mathematics (FAM), as the baseline and post-test measure. The FAM provided information on learners’ automatic recall of addition facts and their semantic understanding of these facts, which helped in determining whether learners experienced any improvements due to the intervention. Correlation analysis was carried out to determine whether a relationship may exist between any changes in SEND learners’ automatic recall of addition facts and their semantic understanding of addition as a near-transfer effect.

The study found that when used within an integrated intervention design, TEL in the form of an iPad app delivering content at an abstract level had a noticeable impact on learners’ automatic recall of addition facts but a limited impact on their understanding of the addition concepts. In stark contrast, the CPA method not only proved more effective at developing learners’ automatic recall of addition facts but also had a strong impact on their semantic understanding of addition facts when used within the new intervention design. The effectiveness of the CPA method when used within the integrated intervention approach called into question traditional approaches to mathematics intervention for learners in SEND settings. Similarly, the results from the experimental group using TEL emphasised the significance of education practitioners’ careful selection and implementation of new technologies for serving specific mathematics purposes and meeting increasingly complex SEND needs.

Date of Award	23 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	MariCarmen Gil Ortega (Supervisor) & Rita Chawla-Duggan (Supervisor)