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Tablet computers (tablets) are positioned to be powerful, innovative, effective, and motivating research and assessment tools. We addressed two questions critical for evaluating the appropriateness of using tablets to study number-line estimation, a skill associated with math achievement and argued to be central to numerical cognition. First, is performance with paper and pencil comparable with performance on a tablet? Second, is comparability affected by students' preference for one method of presentation? Thirty-two students in Grade 6 estimated targets on a number line; half estimated with paper and pencil and half with a tablet. For both presentation methods, students' performance was comparable. Students liked both presentation conditions equally but, when asked to choose, most students preferred the tablet. Preference did not influence comparability of results across presentation methods. Finally, students' reasons for their preferences were explored, along with implications for using tablet applications in research and educational assessment.

Background: Increasing access to health and social services through service-integration approaches may provide a direct and sustainable way to improve health and social outcomes in low-income families.Methods: We did a community-based randomized trial evaluating the effects of two service-integration practices (healthy family lifestyle and recreational activities for children) among low-income families in Alberta, Canada. These two practices in combination formed four groups: Self-Directed (no intervention), Family Healthy Lifestyle, Family Recreation, and Comprehensive (Family Healthy Lifestyle plus Family Recreation programs). The primary outcome was the total number of service linkages.Results: We randomized 1168 families, 50 % of which were retained through the last follow-up visit. The number of service linkages for all three intervention groups was not significantly different from the number of linkages in the Self-Directed group (Comprehensive 1.15 (95 % CI 0.98-1.35), Family Healthy Lifestyle 1.17 (0.99-1.38), and Family Recreation 1.12 (0.95-1.32) rate ratios). However, when we explored the number of linkages by the categories of linkages, we found significantly more healthcare service linkages in the Comprehensive group compared to the Self-Directed group (1.27 (1.06-1.51)) and significantly more linkages with child-development services in the Family Healthy Lifestyle group compared to the Self-Directed group (3.27 (1.59-6.74)). The monthly hours of direct intervention was much lower than the assigned number of hours (ranging from 5 to 32 % of the assigned hours).Conclusions: Our findings are relevant to two challenges faced by policymakers and funders. First, if funds are to be expended on service-integration approaches, then, given the lack of intervention fidelity found in this study, policymakers need to insist, and therefore fund a) a well-described practice, b) auditing of that practice, c) retention of family participants, and d) examination of family use and outcomes. Second, if child-development services are widely required and are difficult for low-income families to access, then current policy needs to be examined.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00705328 . Registered on 24 June 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]