Pennington, R. (1998). A study to determine the effect of instruction in effective use of a calculator on test scores of middle school students . Salem International University. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=ED434030

This is a Masters Thesis from Salem-Teikyo University, now Salem International University, in Salem, WV, published as a report on the ERIC database. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 434 030)

The students were randomly divided into three groups: two experimental and one control group. Students in one experimental group had access to calculators with no instruction while students in the other experimental group had access to calculators along with instruction on how to use them. The students in the control group did not use calculators.

A total of 89 students in grades 7 and 8 from southern West Virginia (U.S.) participated. Forty-six (46) of the participants in the sample were females and 43 of the students were males. All students in the sample had similar abilities in math skills and were enrolled in either Math 7 or Math 8.

All three groups were administered a pre- and post-test consisting of items from the MacMillan McGraw-Hill Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (released items).

The results showed that at the end of the two-week period the test scores improved significantly when instruction on how to use the calculators was given. Test scores also improved when students were given access to calculators without instruction. The mean difference between conditions, however, was not statistically significant.