Primary kids better without a calculator

PRIMARY school students who use calculators and computers in maths and work in small groups "score lower on tests".

Maths Year 4

PRIMARY school students who use calculators and computers in maths and work in small groups score lower on tests, an analysis of effective teaching methods shows.

The analysis by the new Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation established by the NSW government shows that teaching practices can account for students being one year ahead in their schoolwork.

The report, the first produced by the centre, is based on the results for 16,000 Australian students in 353 schools who sat tests in reading, maths and science conducted by the OECD and the US Institute of Education Sciences.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study is run every four years by the IES among students in Years 4 and 8 and shows that students working on problems on their own rather than in a group score higher in maths, and in Year 8 science.

Students in Year 4 who practise basic skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division without a calculator memorise how to work out problems, but among Year 8 maths students, using a calculator is associated with better results.

In science, students who memorised facts scored higher, and in Year 8, students scored better if their lessons frequently included reading textbooks, conducting their own experiments rather than watching the teacher give explanations about what was being studied, and having the students work in small groups on an experiment.

An analysis of the Program of International Student Assessment by the OECD among 15-year-olds shows that student scores in reading tests are higher when their teachers ask them to explain the meaning of a text, ask challenging questions, explain in advance how their work will be judged, and give students the chance to ask questions.

The PISA analysis also shows that students from affluent backgrounds are more likely to experience these teaching practices than students from disadvantaged families.

Students were asked about teaching practices in their classes and their frequency, which were then matched with their scores.

The CESE is to be launched today by NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli.