1) Identification

Name: “Find the Factors”

Publisher: Whitekettle Games, LLC

Cost: Free
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Link:

Description: This app is intended to help Algebra students practice factoring quadratics. In this app, there are 3 levels. Level 1 gives the user a quadratic equation in standard form. The user must look on a pyramid of given factors of the form (x+a) to find the two factors of that quadratic. The user must touch the correct factors, which will then disappear. The app then gives another quadratic in standard form. The user must continue finding the factors until all factors on the pyramid have disappeared. The user then receives a score based on the number wrong and the time it took to complete the level. The user can then complete another puzzle to try to beat his/her own best score. Levels 2 and 3 are the same general format, except in Level 2 the factors are of the form (x  a), and in Level 3 they are of the form (ax  b).

2) Critique

Strengths:

1) The puzzle format makes this activity more interesting than just a worksheet with several quadratic equations. This app reduces the time and effort on the part of the teacher to create a worksheet or other assessment of similar format. It also provides the students with interactivity, colors, levels, and scores to beat, which make learning a tedious process more fun.

2) This app is good for improving speed and accuracy of mental math when factoring. Levels one and two especially challenge the user to quickly come up with the two factors. When it comes to learning mathematics, factoring itself is merely a procedure that then leads to other useful information and processes such as finding zeros. Therefore, speed and accuracy of factoring can reduce the time it takes students to complete more complex tasks in the future.

3) The progression of levels allows students to track their progress and self-assess their ability. This is a good learning tool for students because they are able to identify areas of need and practice quickly on their own perhaps before taking a quiz or test.

4) The app requires students to keep trying until the correct answer is found. Students cannot simply give up and move on to the next problem. This teaches perseverance—an important part of learning mathematics. A teacher might use this app with his/her class and encourage students to compete against one another for the best score, which could also promote perseverance.

Weaknesses:

1) One inconvenience about this app is that Level 3 is difficult to complete without pencil and paper and/or a calculator unless the user is very proficient at mental math, which most high school students are not. This does not really affect the teaching or learning of mathematics because if a student decides to not use paper and/or a calculator, they will most likely get the answer wrong and have to keep trying anyway.

2) (Going along with #1) Given a finite number of choices for factors, a student may be tempted to simply guess on difficult problems. This does not encourage the student to understand the process behind factoring. This would also make it difficult for a teacher to assess student knowledge if the teacher decided to use this app in the classroom by creating some sort of competition for the best score.

3) This app only deals with quadratic equations—it does not contain any higher levels with polynomials of higher degree. Also, the puzzle only practices factoring from a quadratic equation, not back and forth. On the whole, the skills and knowledge required of students from this app are limited. This app only allows students to practice one aspect of factoring and does not highlight any of the uses of factoring. Teachers need to be wary that while students may enjoy this app and have fun competing against their peers, once they have mastered the concept, there is not much use for the app.

Overall, this app is a useful drill and practice tool, but cannot be used to teach or learn the process of factoring quadratic equations effectively. However, once students learn how to factor quadratic equations, they will find this app more engaging than practicing factoring on paper.