Abstracts

This study examined the academic achievement of students using virtual manipulatives compared to students using physical manipulatives to understand a fraction unit. The school was a Title I school with a high population of English learners. The unit was taught with the districts curriculum to both the control and treatment groups. Treatment group students utilized virtual manipulatives during instruction, both dynamic and static manipulatives. Control group students utilized only physical manipulatives. The study found students in the treatment group utilizing virtual manipulatives outperformed the control group on the posttest after controlling for prior knowledge. English learners in the treatment group also had a higher academic achievement than students in the control group after controlling for prior knowledge.Advisors/Committee Members: Poole, Dawn (advisor).