Critical App Review: 4th Grade Splash Math

This review is based on Tony Vincent’s App Evaluation Rubric

Katie Stults

 

 

For this critical application review, I researched the application online and read the company description in addition to customer reviews. Furthermore, I downloaded the free trial version of the app and played around with it to get a better feel for its functionality and true usability in the classroom.

 

Relevance (4)

            4th Grade Splash Math has practice activities and games that focus on Common Core State Standard’s essential math skills. The math practice is appropriate for fourth grade students and the concepts being taught in this grade. The app’s focus is definitely connected to its purpose and is appropriate for fourth graders. Because of this I have rated 4th Grade Splash Math a 4 in the Relevance section of the evaluation rubric. 

 

Customization (3)

            4th Grade Splash Math does not offer students the chance to choose a difficulty level for the practice problems but it does offer many different practice games for a multitude of content areas. Because there are many different specific skill set practices, there is a degree of flexibility to meet students’ needs. Teachers can have students work on a certain skill set if they need more practice with one skills over another. Because of these options, I have rater 4th Grade Math Splash a 3 in the Customization section of the evaluation rubric.

 

Feedback (3)

            4th Grade Splash Math provides feedback to students after each question they answer. If they get a questions right they see an “Awesome!” or “Good job!” message. If they answer a question incorrectly the student is asked to try again. While there is consistent feedback, I did not find that there very specific feedback for mistakes. I have rated 4th Grade Splash Math a 3 in the Feedback portion of the evaluation rubric.

 

Thinking Skills (3)

            4th Grade Math Splash goes beyond just memorization by having students completing comparisons and providing student-generated answers rather than just yes/no or true/false. Students do have the opportunity to use some higher-order thinking skills when completing practice problems with this app. I have given 4th Grade Math Splash a 3 in the Thinking Skills portion of the evaluation rubric.

 

Usability (4)

            From my experience using the app I believe that students would be able to launch and operate the app independently. The app is easy to navigate and provides straightforward instructions on what to do. I think that the teacher would have to provide instruction on which practice problems to focus on to ensure students are working on the skills they need practice with. I have rated 4th Grade Math Splash a 4 in the Usability portion of the evaluation rubric.

 

Engagement (4)

            After reading the reviews for 4th Grade Math Splash and playing the games myself, I think that students would be highly motivated to use it. You can earn rewards and points for completing a certain number of questions. You can turn in the points you earn to play games. This provides motivation to answer the practice questions. Because of the interactive and rewarding nature of this game I gave it a 4 in the Engagement portion of the evaluation rubric.

 

Sharing (4)

            4th Grade Math Splash has a great system for tracking student performance. Teachers can access a performance summary on the application that shows them how the student is performing on different tasks. Additionally, the app will send you weekly reports so that you can see how your child is performing. These reports can as data for teachers to support instructional decisions. Because of the comprehensive performance summaries and weekly reports I have given this application a 4 in the Sharing section of the evaluation rubric.