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EDTC600 Software Review: Math Drills

Rachel Nachman
EDTC600 Summer 2013

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EDTC600 Software Review: Math Drills

Brief Overview/Context
Math Drills is a mathematics drill-and-practice software developed by Instant
Interactive and was released in 2010. The main goal of this software is to help students with the
rote memorization and instant recall of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.
Teachers can set up an account for each student, and while using this software, students engage
in three stages of drills: a review stage, a practice stage, and a test stage (these stages
will be discussed in greater detail throughout this review). Through the use of this software,
students have multiple opportunities to practice their computation skills in a way that is
interactive, motivating, and engaging.
Educational Value
While this software can be used with students of any age, this evaluation will be from the
perspective of using this application with fourth grade students. According to Roblyer and
Doering, drill activities can allow the effective rehearsal students need to transfer newly learned
information into long-term memory (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. 84). An important idea in
fourth grade mathematics instruction is the knowledge of basic facts. Math Drills is valuable
with regards to the instructional objective of students improving the automaticity and instant
recall of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.
Math Drills would greatly promote student learning in the area of basic math facts. As
stated above, there are three stages of this drill-and-practice activity. In each stage, students can
choose to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division problems. They can also choose

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to solve a combination of addition and subtraction problems, a combination of multiplication and

division problems, or a combination of all four types of problems.
Students can first review their facts, during which they complete a pre-determined
amount of problems (set by either the teacher or student) with no time limit and with hints if
needed. These hints include a number line, the use of blocks, the use of an addition, subtraction,
multiplication, or division chart (depending on the operation(s) being practiced), or general
assistance (such as giving the student one digit in the answer if the answer has multiple digits).
Because students can have assistance if needed, they will be more likely to determine the correct
answer as opposed to determining an incorrect answer.
Additionally, immediate feedback is provided in this software. As each problem is
completed, the number of correct and incorrect answers is shown on the screen. In addition,
students can either correct problems immediately or choose to not correct problems immediately.
If students choose to not correct problems immediately, when the review stage is completed,
the software will ask the student if he or she would like to correct all incorrect problems. If a
student says yes, he or she will re-do each incorrect problem. If the student chooses to not correct
the incorrect problems, he or she will return to the home screen after the stage is completed.
However, if a student chooses to correct problems immediately, he or she will re-do a
problem immediately after solving it incorrectly. He or she will not be able to move on to the
next problem until determining the correct solution to the problem being completed. This option
allows students to learn the correct answers to basic facts immediately. Thus, the correct answer
will be stored in students memory as opposed to an incorrect answer, allowing a greater
opportunity for students to achieve the learning objective of improving the automaticity and

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instant recall of their basic facts. The option of not correcting incorrect problems will be further
discussed as a limitation of this software.
After students review their facts, they move on to the practice stage of the software.
During this stage, students solve a pre-determined amount of problems with no hints. The lack of
hints follows the scaffolding model of instruction, adding to the educational value of this
software. Students are also timed to determine how long it takes them to correctly solve all of
these problems. Immediate feedback (the tally of the number of correct and incorrect answers) is
displayed on the screen. Students can also choose to correct problems immediately or to not do
so during this stage. The characteristics of correcting problems immediately or not correcting
problems immediately for the practice stage are the same as the characteristics for the review
stage.
Lastly, students can have a math facts test, which is similar to the practice stage;
however, the time it takes for all problems to be solved correctly is recorded and becomes part of
a students set of personal scores. Again, immediate feedback (the tally system) is used, and
students can choose to either correct problems immediately or to not correct problems
immediately during this stage.
After exploring the capabilities of Math Drills, I believe that it meets Roblyer and
Doerings criteria of being considered a good drill-and-practice software. Roblyer and Doering
state one criterion of a valuable drill-and-practice software is that users have control over the rate
in which questions are presented. Users should have as much time as they wish to answer and
examine the feedback before proceeding to later questions (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. 83).
Math Drills meets this criterion. While the amount of time it takes students to correctly solve
their math facts is recorded (for two out of the three stages), students are not given an actual time

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limit to solve the problems. Students have as much time as they need to solve their math facts.
Thus, they engage in this software with the goal of decreasing their time, not the goal of
correctly solving all of the problems before the timer goes off.
Furthermore, Roblyer and Doering discuss that good drill-and-practice software must
present simple feedback quickly and the feedback for correct and incorrect answers must be
equally stimulating (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. 84). They write that when students are being
timed, they are motivated to work quickly and dont want to be slowed down by extensive
feedback. The manner that feedback is provided in Math Drills meets this criterion. As
previously stated, feedback is given immediately in the form of a simple tally of the number of
correct and incorrect answers in a given stage.
Additionally, students can choose to utilize the smart drills feature of this software.
When using this feature, the frequency of the problems in the drills is based on student data. For
example, if software data shows that a student struggles with multiplication facts involving
fives, any drill involving multiplication will primarily focus on these specific facts. If software
data shows that a student is answering addition facts with an addend of six slower than other
addition facts, any drill involving addition will primarily focus on facts involving the number
six. Thus, this software caters to the specific needs of each student, adding to its educational
value.
This software also caters to the specific needs of the students in an additional way.
Teachers can specify the types of problems given to each student. The chart below illustrates this
software capability:

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Operation
Addition

Subtraction

Multiplication

Division

Types of Problems
1. Problems in which the sum falls within
a certain range
2. Problems in which each addend falls
within a certain range
3. Custom facts (teacher selects specific
facts for student to practice)
1. The addition problems student
completed are reversed to form
subtraction problems
2. Problems in which the minuend and
subtrahend fall within a certain range
3. Custom facts
1. Problems in which the product falls
within a certain range
2. Problems in which the multiplicand and
multiplier fall between a certain range
3. Custom facts
1. The multiplication problems student
completed are reversed to form division
problems
2. Problems in which the dividend and
divisor fall within a certain range
3. Custom facts

For example, if a teacher knows that a student is struggling with multiplication problems in
which both the multiplicand and multiplier are greater than 8, the teacher can customize the
multiplication drills for that particular student to focus solely on problems with multiplicands
and multipliers between 8 and 12. Because teachers can specify the type of problem for each
operation given to each student, every drill-and-practice activity within Math Drills will align
to the needs of each individual student, adding to the educational value of this software.
There are various reasons why this software should be utilized as opposed to other
teaching strategies. As discussed above, because students have the ability to correct problems
immediately, they will learn the correct answers to basic math facts while they are completing
the drill as opposed to after the drill has been completed. As Roblyer and Doering write,

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As they complete work incorrectly, students may actually be memorizing the wrong
skills. Drill-and-practice software informs them immediately whether their responses are
accurate so they can make quick corrections. This helps both de-bugging (identifying
errors in their procedures) and retention (placing the skills in long-term memory for
future access). (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. 84)
When students receive the immediate feedback in Math Drills, it is more meaningful and, in
this case, they are more likely to memorize the correct answers to their basic facts as opposed to
the incorrect answers.
This software should also be used over other instructional approaches because it is
motivating and engaging for students (this idea will be discussed in greater detail in the Interest
Level section of this review). Technology is at the center of our students lives, and
incorporating technology into instruction has proven to benefit student learning. Math Drills
combines a valuable instructional approach (drill-and-practice) with an additional valuable
instructional approach (the use of educational technology). Due to the immediate feedback and
student motivation while using Math Drills, this software should be utilized when helping
students aim to improve the recall and rote memorization of their basic math facts.
While Math Drills is a valuable software, it does have a limitation. As mentioned
above, a limitation of this software is that students can choose not only to not correct problems
immediately, but they can choose to not correct problems even after the drill is completed.
Quantitative feedback alone (in this case, a simple tally of the number of correct and incorrect
solutions) is not beneficial in helping students improve their knowledge of basic facts. Feedback
must also include students correcting their mistakes. If these mistakes are not corrected, students
will not learn the correct answers to basic facts, and thus, the incorrect answers will be

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committed to memory. This will not help students in achieving the instructional objective that
this program aims to achieve.
Even with this limitation, Math Drills will greatly support students in improving their
rote memorization and recall of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Due to
the repeated rehearsal, feedback options, the ability to control the rate of presentation, and the
alignment to specific student needs, this software will help students develop the automaticity and
instant recall of their basic mathematical facts.
Interest Level
As mentioned above, Math Drills is an extremely motivating and engaging software.
Each student has a personalized account in this program and users can view each students test
history for each mathematical operation. For example, for each operation, users can view the
number of tests each student has taken, the average number of mistakes each student made, and
the average, fastest, and slowest time that it took each student to complete the problems. Because
this data is recorded, students are motivated to complete more math problems in order to lower
both the number of mistakes made or the time it took to complete all of the problems.
Each student has his or her own personal chart that tracks this data. This data can be used
as motivation for the student, as well as a progress-monitoring tool for the teacher. Additionally,
this software also includes a Hall of Fame, which is a chart showing the top scores for all
students. Teachers can also print awards for students with the top scores. As students wish to
reach the top of the Hall of Fame and win awards, they will engage in this software with these
specific incentives in mind.

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Overall, Math Drills is an engaging software that motivates students while helping
them improve their knowledge of basic facts.
Absence of Bias
This software allows for capabilities that aim to eliminate bias. According to the
Reviewing Educational Materials for Equity: A Checklist published by the MidAtlantic Equity
Consortium, a characteristic of an equitable software is that the material is available in various
formats (MidAtlantic Equity Consortium, 1991).Math Drills meets this criterion in a variety of
ways.
First, there is a wide selection of different color schemes and appearances for users to
choose from. For example, students can choose color schemes in which the text greatly stands
out from the background, or appearances in which the text is either small or large. This allows
students with visual perception needs or general visual needs to fully engage in this software.
Additionally, this software also allows the math facts to be presented in Chinese and
Japanese, allowing students who are dominant in these languages to utilize the software.
Furthermore, this software allows for text-to-speech capabilities. In this case, text will be
read out loud to students. Students can also choose for numbers to be read naturally (such as
saying nineteen for the number 19), or for numbers to be read as digits (such as saying one
nine for the number 19). These options allow for students with reading or language
difficulties to fully use this software.
Math Drills also allows for speech-to-text capabilities. Using a microphone, students
can verbally say their answer as opposed to typing it in. This is extremely beneficial for students
with fine motor difficulties. If these students were required to physically press the buttons on the
keyboard, they may have a challenging time doing so. As a result, the amount of time it takes

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these students to solve all of the problems would be a reflection of their fine motor difficulties
and not a reflection of their mathematical abilities. This speech-to-text feature helps eliminate
this issue.
I do not see evidence of bias regarding gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status,
sexual orientation, or language within this drill-and-practice software. Overall, there are various
capabilities of Math Drills that allow for students with varying needs to fully utilize and
engage in this software.
Ease of Use/Installation
Math Drills was extremely easy for me to install and navigate. Specific steps and
directions accompanied the installation process. Additionally, the software itself was easy to
navigate and use. Descriptions of each possible setting were given, which allowed me to fully
learn all of the capabilities of this software. When navigating this program for the first time, I
was not overwhelmed at all.
Additionally, teachers and students can select the question mark button that is found at
the bottom of the screen. This turns the help feature either on or off. When turned on, the user
hovers his or her mouse over a button to learn more about what happens when that button is
pressed. For example, when the user puts his or her mouse over the button that says scores, a
small window appears that reads, Click here to view the high scores of the current student as
well as the hall of fame.
Fourth grade students would find this program easy to navigate and use. The help
feature is extremely beneficial for those who are beginners to the program, yet after a few times
using the software, many students will not need to take advantage of this feature. Additionally,

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the layout of this program is simple, and thus, students wont be overwhelmed. As long as
teachers provide a satisfactory model of how to use this software, students will find using Math
Drills to be easy to use.
Comparison with Another Software
The software that Math Drills will be compared to is called XtraMath, which is a
web-based program that also helps students with the memorization of basic math facts. Teachers
can create an account for each of their students and students can then sign in to complete various
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division drills. Students scores are recorded and can be
used as incentives for students and as progress-monitoring data for teachers.
Both Math Drills and XtraMath allow for teachers to specify the types of problems
that each student completes. As previously illustrated in the chart above, in Math Drills,
teachers can not only specify what operation(s) they would like each student to work on, but they
can also specify the types of problems within each operation. For example, a student who has
demonstrated mastery of multiplication facts with multiplicands and multipliers from 0-5 does
not need to spend as much time practicing facts with these same factors. The teacher can adjust
this students settings to drill multiplication facts with multiplicands and multipliers ranging from
6-12. Thus, as previously stated, Math Drills allows teachers to cater the drill-and-practice
activities to each students individual needs.
However, XtraMath does not allow for this extent of specification and customization.
There are various programs that students can engage in, including addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, and combinations of these operations. However, that is the extent to
which teachers can customize each students instructional program. For example, when using the

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multiplication only program, students take an initial placement test and then practice their
multiplication skills until they reach mastery of all facts with multiplicands and multipliers up to
12. While students will be drilled on facts that they dont know, and while they are working
towards mastery of basic facts, the drill activities in XtraMath are not as customizable as those
in Math Drills and thus, do not align as well to the individual needs of each student.
Overall (Holistic) Evaluation of Software
Overall, Math Drills is a beneficial drill-and-practice software. The repeated practice of
basic math facts combined with the immediate feedback allow for students to improve with the
automaticity and instant recall of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. I
strongly recommend this software to be used with fourth grade students and I give Math Drills
a rating of 5 out of 5.
As discussed throughout this review, there are various strengths of this software. My
recommendation and rating of this software are supported by these strengths. By using Math
Drills, students will get the repeated rehearsal of basic math facts that is necessary in order to
commit these math facts to memory. Additionally, students receive simple, quick, and immediate
feedback and can correct their errors immediately, which allows for de-bugging and retention.
Furthermore, this software allows for the user to have control over the rate information is
presented. Math Drills can also be aligned to each students individual needs. This conveys the
idea that all students learn basic facts at varying rates, and thus, instruction and drills should
reflect these differing rates.
This software is also extremely motivating for students. When students are motivated,
they are more likely to be fully engaged in the activity. While using Math Drills, students are

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working towards improving their time and score. They are also working towards reaching the top
of the Hall of Fame and receiving awards.
Math Drills is also accessible for students with various needs and disabilities. Its range
of capabilities allows all students to fully engage in the software and improve their knowledge of
basic facts. Fourth graders will also find this software extremely easy to use and navigate
through.
However, the main limitation of this software is that students are not actually required to
correct all incorrect problems, which contradicts one of Roblyer and Doerings ideas about the
benefits of drill-and-practice software. While drill-and-practice software can help with debugging and retention, if students do not correct all incorrect problems, this software will not
help with these two processes. Yet, I am still claiming that Math Drills does help with debugging and retention, because the ability to correct all incorrect problems is a capability of this
software. To solve this limitation, teachers can set all students accounts to correcting problems
immediately, and can then prohibit students from even clicking on the settings button to
change these personalized settings. Thus, all students will be required to correct all incorrect
problems, allowing for this software to improve retention and automaticity of basic math facts.
Because this limitation can be solved, the strengths of this software outweigh the negative
aspects.
Students instant recall and rote memorization of basic math facts can be improved to a
greater extent through the use of Math Drills as opposed to the use of non-technological
instructional approaches. According to Roblyer and Doering, there are various advantages to
using drill-and-practice software as opposed to drill-and-practice handwritten activities. These
include that in drill-and-practice software such as Math Drills, feedback is provided

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immediately, students are more motivated, and students can use this software while the teacher is
addressing other needs in the classroom (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.84). The idea of immediate
feedback with regards to Math Drills has been greatly discussed throughout this review.
Furthermore, students will enjoy using Math Drills due to the reasons previously discussed, as
well as the fact that students enjoy using technology in their everyday lives. Lastly, due to the
fact that Math Drills is easy to use, students can use this software independently while the
teacher is focusing on other needs in the classroom or even when the teacher is out of the room.
While basic math facts can be practiced through means of paper-and-pencil drill activities, Math
Drills has various advantages that simple non-technological drill activities do not.
In conclusion, Math Drills is a motivating, engaging, and interactive drill-and-practice
software that serves to help students improve the instant recall and automaticity of basic
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Due to the educational value of this
software, it should be incorporated into fourth grade mathematics instruction.

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References:
Doering, A. H. & Roblyer, M.D. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (6
ed.). Pearson.
MidAtlantic Equity Consortium. (1991). Reviewing educational materials for equity: A checklist.
Retrieved from http://www.maec.org/Old/tadocs/review.html

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Software Publication Information Form

A. Title of Main Software: Math Drills
Version: 5.5
Medium (e.g., compact disk, DVD, Internet: Downloadable Software
Publisher: Instant Interactive
Year: 2010
Cost: (individual, single, school, if available): Individual License- $4.99
URL for Publisher or Website link to software: http://www.instantinteractive.com/
Target Grade(s) /Age(s): Kindergarten Grade 12
Subject(s): Mathematics
System Requirements:
PC:

Mac: OS X 10.6.6 or later

B. Title of Comparative Software: XtraMath

Version: N/A
Medium (e.g., compact disk, DVD, Internet): Internet (Web-based software)
Publisher: XtraMath
Year: 2007
Cost: (individual, class, school, if available): Free
URL for Publisher or Website link to software: https://www.xtramath.org/
Target Grade(s) /Age(s): Kindergarten Grade 12
Subject(s): Mathematics

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System Requirements: An internet browser [Internet Explorer 7 (or later), Firefox, Safari, or
Google Chrome]; Flash Player v. 9 (or later)