Theoretically driven educational app design: the creation of a mathematics app

The present paper documents the design and development of a mobile mathematics application targeted to improve magnitude representation skills. Educational experts worked together with an app developer with the goal of creating an educational app as a math learning tool for children 5–8 years old. The description of the app design processes includes five core elements that we believe are central to the creation of a theory driven educational app. Creating a theory driven educational app is a difficult task; it involves a set of complex decisions as illustrated in this article.

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Funding

This study was funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant No. 430-2017-00230).

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1. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 1Y2, Canada Sabrina Shajeen Alam & Adam Kenneth Dubé

1. Sabrina Shajeen Alam

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Author A is listed as a developer in the credits of the application but is not an employee of the company or member of its board.

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The authors have no competing interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. The authors collaborated with a company to develop the app so that it can be used for research. The app was then further developed by the company for commercial purposes.

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