Mobile application and teaching-learning of factorization within the education environment

Abstract

The mobile application "Fácil Factorizar" facilitates the teaching of factorization due to its accessibility and features designed to address students' concerns. An experimental design with a quantitative approach was used, employing surveys and assessments such as pretest and posttest to evaluate knowledge and the effectiveness of the app within an educational setting. The research, classified as applied and field-based, involved 22 ninth-grade EGB students from an educational institution located in the urban area of Cevallos, Ecuador. To analyze the data, the Wilcoxon and Shapiro-Wilk tests were applied, suitable for small populations that showed non-normal results, with significance levels of 0.005 and 0.017 in the pretest and posttest, respectively. In the pretest, the average score was 7.00, with only four students achieving the expected knowledge. After completing the posttest, the median increased to 8.0, with nine students mastering the topic and four close to reaching it. It is possible to affirm that the app significantly improved factorization skills, increasing students' grades and confidence in each developed topic. Additionally, it provides teachers with an innovative tool that encourages the use of didactic methodologies, promoting effective learning in a technological environment.