The effect of mobile scaffolding on academic achievement and cognitive load of third grade students in mathematical problem solving

Abstract

In the study, problem-solving educational software (ProSES) was developed to reduce the challenges and mistakes experienced by primary school third-grade students in mathematical problem solving and to provide scaffolding and hint support for teacher help for the students using mobile technologies. The study aimed to determine the impact of the employment of this educational software on academic achievements and cognitive load of the students. The study was conducted with the experimental design, a quantitative research method, with 130 third grade students during the 2019–2020 academic year fall semester. Based on the study aim, ProSES was employed in two experimental and one control groups. All group members were assigned with simple random sampling method. Mental effort scale, task completion speed and academic achievement test were used to collect the study data. The findings showed that scaffolding was effective in academic achievement. Thus, this study adds to the current literature by showing that mobile scaffolding effective to improve students’ problem solving in mathematical problems of teacher support in primary education.