Two Papamoa primary schools are beginning a two-year programme looking at how apps can be used to teach maths.

Nearly $200,000 has been granted by the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) to support the research project at Te Akau Ki Papamoa and Tahatai Coast Primary Schools.

Te Akau Ki Papamoa pupils with tablets showing the maths apps with Dr Carol Murphy, Dr Nigel Calder, Glen Storey, Monique Storey and Dorothea Collier.

The study will look at how to improve teaching and learning of primary mathematics through the use of apps on mobile digital devices.

The research is run by Dr Nigel Calder and Dr Carol Murphy - both senior lecturers based at the University of Waikato's Tauranga Faculty of Education. Glen Storey, Monique Storey and Rebekah Whyte are the teachers involved as co-researchers.

'Earlier work seems to show maths apps can make a real difference,” says Nigel.

'They are visual, they are dynamic and they are interactive, so you have engagement which adds a lot more value and variety to a programme than just having someone working out of a book or just using equipment.

'You need a varied programme but this could be a really useful tool.

'This is the first one of these which has been solely run in Tauranga itself. There have been ones which have had a little bit of the research done in Tauranga but this is a whole project solely based in Tauranga. That's quite exciting. The teachers involved are really highly skilled.”

Research involves developing a process for teachers to put apps to better use to facilitate mathematical thinking.

'The apps are a tool to develop maths thinking and communication,” adds Nigel. 'There's a range, and some of them are freely available.

'Glen and Monique have developed a really good one which they are just about to launch, which I think has got a lot of value.

'There's a lot of use of apps in schools, but the teachers are so busy they don't really get a chance to evaluate the apps and how to use them.”

The first year of the programme will see three teachers develop the framework that Nigel says will be scaled up in the second year, working with groups of teachers.

'There's fantastic work going on,” he adds. 'There's no doubt that for some teachers, this will allow them a way to better enhance the learning of their kids, and that's what it is all about - the learning and thinking for the children.”

The main intention of the research is identifying the best practice which then can be introduced to schools and teachers initially in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato before being presented nationally and internationally.

The Teaching and Learning Research Initiative seeks to improve the links between educational research and teaching practices to improve outcomes for learners.

'Teachers using maths apps properly are going to be able to make a big difference to a lot of kids,” says Nigel.