Effects of a Realistic Mathematics Education-Based Tablet Intervention on Second-Grade Addition Skills

This study investigated the effectiveness of a didactic intervention utilizing a custom-developed tablet application, grounded in Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) principles, on second-grade students' addition skills (numbers up to 100). A quasi-experimental design with pre-test/post-test control group structure was employed. The sample consisted of 189 second-grade students (aged 6.5-7.5 years) from four public primary schools in Attica, Greece, during the 2022-2023 school year. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group (N = 96), receiving the RME-based tablet intervention for five weeks, or a control group (N = 93), receiving traditional instruction. Mathematical proficiency was assessed using an adapted version of the Test of Early Mathematics Ability, Third Edition (TEMA-3). Results from paired samples t-tests revealed significant improvements from pre-test to post-test for both the experimental group and control group on overall mathematics scores. However, a Mixed Repeated Measures ANOVA demonstrated a significant Time × Group interaction effect, indicating that the experimental group's improvement significantly exceeded that of the control group. These findings suggest that integrating RME principles with custom-designed tablet applications can substantially enhance young learners' mathematical understanding.