MathCards! does not shoot asteroids, make rabbits dance, or include full-motion video. Instead, it provides a wide range of problems and problem styles designed to help the student reach mastery.
MathCards! is designed to be problem- intensive and minimally distractive. It uses pastel colors to provide visual interest, but avoids the use of colors or motions that may distract certain students.
While "edutainment" is an appropriate and valuable teaching tool for many students, there is a large student population for whom that approach will not work. Some students are easily distracted from the problem at hand. Others need heavy reinforcement of basic skills. MathCards! is designed to build and reinforce basic arithmetic and pre- algebra skills.
Using this program as a supplement to good instruction can help students achieve mastery. Mastery will give the student a sense of pride and self-worth. The author believes this to be more valuable than entertainment which includes a little bit of instruction.
Timed or non-timed exercises. Customizable time selections.
Variable number of problems per exercise.
Customizable problem sets.
Customizable difficulty levels.
Choice of arithmetic or prealgebra presentation.
Printed certificates for perfect performance.
Printed action reports to reinforce correct answers.
Correct answer presented when missed.
Repetition of missed problems to reinforce correct thinking.
Score and average time tracked as progress made on problem set.
Customized presentation with problem control panel.
Speech (on speech-enabled machines).
Speech and Sound may be enabled or turned off.
Problem size on screen can be customized for viewer comfort level
(helps visually impared learners).
Pause and reset capability during play.
Student security and log-in.
Administrator code for record maintenance and review and printing.
Help Page.
Tracking of student login and progress.
Soft colors to keep distractions down.
Millions of different problem sets available.
Printed practice sheets, optional answer sheets.
Problem Variety
MathCards! has a wide variety of problems and problem styles. While this program deals exclusively with the "Basic Four," each element (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) is treated on a wide variety of levels.
The Tables cards in the Basic Four section have 15 different operation combinations, 6 different table selections (not counting the customized option), 3 different answer formats (including a pre-algebra option), and 2 different views for the problems. Add to this a variable timing option and the ability to select how many problems are given, and you have more practice than available on most programs!
Selecting Exercises
MathCards! has a variety of exercise sets to choose from:
Tables• allow students to practice the basic skills.
FactFamilies• are another approach to the Tables, allowing students to see the relationship between opposite operations.
Multi-Digit• problems extend operations practice far beyond the Tables.
Mini-Order• problems introduce order of operations with 3 numbers, 2 operations, and optional parentheses.
Tall Addition• stacks addition 3 or 4 high, with variety in problem difficulty.
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Tables provides practice with these sets:
0 to 5: for beginners
0 to 5, 6 to 10 Split: an intermediate level
6 to 10: a bit more advanced
0 to 10: the basic drill set
2 to 12: the extended drill set
10s, 25's, 50's, 100: a further extended drill, providing upper-decade practice.
Other: by choosing appropriate numbers, you can focus on difficult areas.
By varying operation and answer placement choices, this section provides over 8112 different problems (2 cards).
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Fact Families provide the same instruction as the Tables, with a slightly different format. All related problems are grouped together. For example, this would be one problem group:
8 + 4 = __
4 + 8 = __
12 - 4 = __
12 - 8 = __
Fact Families strengthen the student's understanding of inverse operations.
By varying operation and answer placement choices, this section provides over 8112 different problems (2 cards).
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Multi-Digit problems provide a rich variety of practice in the basic four set. Students may choose from any single operation with a variety of multiple-digit exercises.
The number of potential problems in this section is enormous. The Addition component has nearly 90 million different possibilities, while the subtraction component has 49 million possibilities. Multiplication and division each have nearly 180,000 possibilies. If the pre-algebra options are considered, then there are three times as many possibilites! (2 cards).
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Mini-Order problems provide experience using order of operations and parentheses. Three numbers are operated on by two operations (as chosen by the user). Order of operations use parentheses first, then multiplication or division (from left to right), and finally addition or subtraction (from left to right).
The Higher Difficulty option increases the numbers used for this level.
With all options available, this section has 840,000 possible different questions.
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Tall Addition provides columnar addition practice. The student may choose to add three numbers, or four, where each of the numbers can be any of one to four digits, or variable. You may fix the number of digits any particular number contains.
Tall Addition is valuable for developing addition and carrying skills.
I know you may not believe this, but there are more than 9.99 quadrillion possible questions in this section (9999*9998*9997* 9996 different numbers possible!). Don't worry, you don't have to do them all.
Timing Exercises
Each problem set has the option for timed exercises. Time allottments for each problem are controlled by the user, and may be turned off.
Studies have shown that timed drills have a profound positive impact on learning and retention. Students who master the material under a timed option tend to feel more confident when they meet the same problem under different circumstances.
Of course, timing is not for everyone. Even when it is appropriate, the time allotted for each problem should realistically reflect the nature of the problem.
For example, young students just learning their Tables should have a longer time allotment than those who are near mastery. I would recommend a 5-second limit for those who are fairly proficient in their Tables.
But other questions will take longer. It is better to give a longer time, and then adjust it downward as appropriate than to start off with too short a time.
To turn the clock off, assign a time of zero (0). This will allow the student to work without being timed.
However, while the program is active in the drill sections, all times are being recorded and will be reported. If a student needs to stop answering questions for a period of time, always STOP the program. The Pause option will allow the student to resume from their last position.
Again, timing is a useful and often productive element, but it should be used with care and reasonableness. Never make a student feel bad for needing more time. As the student increases his or her skills, the time needed for many problems will decrease.
Each time the student completes an exercise, it is logged into the student's file. The file contains the date and time of the exercise, a short description of the exercise, as well as the number of problems completed and the score made.
Instructors may get this information by using the instructor code. Log into the student's file, but use the instructor code instead of the student's code. The instructor code is at the heading of this page, without the copyright symbol.
The instructor code cannot be used to change information.
Student Reports
Students may get a printed sheet detailing their immediate work.
The reward for a perfect score is a certificate. The certificate will only print if the entire exercise has been completed perfectly.
Otherwise, an "Action Report" will be printed. The Action Report lists the problems that the student answered incorrectly.
These sheets can be used as incentives and further study aids.
Handling Wrong Answers
When a student misses a question, the program does the following:
it flashes;
it plays "boing" (optional sound);
it displays the correct answer for two seconds;
it speaks the problem (optional speech);
it repeats the problem after the next problem has been completed;
it places the problem on the bottom of the list to be repeated again.
While sound and speech are optional, they help to provide a total learning effect. Sound and speech may be turned on or off at any time.
The "a • b = __" option allows a normal drill. A question is given and an answer is expected after the "=" sign. However the other two buttons allow the answer to appear at other places in the problem.
The "a • __ = c" option produces problems like "8 + __ = 17 " or
“__ + 9 = 17.” The student must think differently to solve these problems, and this type of thinking helps to develop natural algebraic thinking patterns.
The “Mixed Seq.” option allows a mix of normal and pre-algebra style questions. One aspect of mastery is to be able to react quickly to different style problems.
Printed Practice Sheets
MathCards! has another valuable option for the teacher and student. Practice sheets may be printed for each of the problem styles.
Each exercise type may generate one or two practice sheets. The print is large enough for students to be able to do a significant amount of work on the sheet itself.
The instructor may request answer sheets by using the instructor's password. Each sheet and answer sheet are identified as to type, and a random number is assigned as a matching identifier.
As with the problem sets interactively played by the students, the number of different printed problem sets is practically unlimited.
This program is a HyperCard stack. As such, while it is technically possible to convert it to other forms with other programs, this must not be done without the author's express written consent. The author reserves all rights to the program, its code, and its "look and feel."
This program is the property of Raymond E. Griffith and RTG Educational Services. The purchaser is granted a licence to use this product on ONE (1) computer and to make ONE (1) backup copy for restoration purposes, if necessary.
Limited Warranty
NonTechnical Interpretation:
As to a warranty, there is a 90-day warranty that the disks are good. But there is no warranty on the software itself. I can’t guarantee that it will run on your machine, since I don’t know what quirks your machine has.
If the disks are bad, I will replace them -- provided you return them postpaid with a receipt. If you return unopened merchandise, I will refund your money. But otherwise, no guarantees.
Of course, I want this program to work for you. See the section on reporting bugs and errors below.
In any case, the Techical Stuff below contains the warranty.
Technical Stuff:
Limited warranty on disks: RTG Educational Services warrants the disks on which this software is recorded to be free of material defects for a period of 90 days from the date of delivery. Should the disks be defective, RTG Educational will, at its option, replace or refund the purchase price of the diskette at no charge to you, provided you have returned the faulty diskette with a sales receipt. There is no responsibility on the part of RTG Educational to replace disks damaged by accident, neglect, or abuse. All other implied warranties about the disk materials are limited by this 90 day period.
Disclaimer of warranty on software: RTG Educational Services provides this software "as is," and without any warranty of any kind. All implied warranties as to fitness for a particular purpose or merchantability are disclaimed. While the intent of this program is to assist in education, no guarantees of any kind are given as to the quality of the educational experience.
Further, no guarantees are given regarding the correctness of the program's calculations. Bug reports are welcome and will be given whatever attention RTG Educational Services deems appropriate.
RTG Educational Services does not warrant that this software will work correctly in a multi-user or network environment.
In no case will RTG Educational Services, its employees, staff, directors or programmers be held liable to you for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages for loss of business, profits, business interruption, loss of information or materials arising out of the use of this software, or the inability to use this software or accompanying materials.
Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitations may not apply to you. The liability of RTG Educational Services for any cause whatsoever, and regardless of the form of action, will be limited to the money paid for the software that caused the damages.
Presently all programs are Macintosh - specific. I will port this over to Windows as soon as possible. Please specify 68k or PPC. If you order a lab pack, you may specify any combination of 68k or PPC versions (eg. 6-68k and 4-PPC versions = 1 lab pack, just as 10-PPC versions = 1 lab pack).
Shipping and handling: $5.95
An order form is included in the Help Section of the Program.
Reporting Bugs and Errors
Please report all bugs and errors to us! We want you to have a reliable and error-free product. We can be contacted at
RTG Educational Services
1299 Lord Anson Drive
Wadesboro, NC 28170
1-704-694-9502
or by e-mail at rgriffit@vnet.net
(In the title line, please put "MathCards")
Be sure to include your return address. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.
