The Impact of Digital Mathematics Textbooks on Teacher-Student Interaction: Evidence from Behavioral Sequence Analysis

Research and development of digital mathematics textbooks are increasingly conducted in various countries, and they have been proven to have a positive effect on students' mathematics outcomes. However, there is limited research analyzing the effect of digital mathematics textbooks on teacher-student interaction. This study examines the impact of digital mathematics textbooks compared to Traditional Multimedia Classrooms (TMCs) on teacher-student interactions in secondary school settings in China. Eight classroom sessions were analyzed using a modified version of the iFIAS behavior coding scheme, with 7126 interactions recorded and reviewed from classroom videos. The analysis focused on four interaction themes: teacher-student, student-student, teacher-technology, and student-technology. Results from the Lag Sequential Analysis (LSA) indicate that while TMCs primarily facilitate teacher-technology interactions using interactive whiteboards, classrooms with digital mathematics textbooks enhance student-centered interactions, including both student-student and student-technology. Although the quantity of teacher-student interactions did not increase with digital textbooks, the quality and diversity of these interactions improved, promoting a more student-centered learning environment.