The Use of ICT in Mathematics Teaching
Part A: Literature Review
Background of the Study
At a young age, children love mathematics but as they grow old the fondness with numbers seem fading. For many students age 11 to 16, math is seen as a series of obstacles and challenges that needs to be overcome. Even though, students attempt to face these challenges with determination and passion, experiencing mathematics is like experiencing failure and irrelevance (, 2001). This should not be case since mathematics is an important part of a child’s education program. For this reason, educators are looking for ways to revise this kind perception about the subject. One of the tools that is fact becoming integrated into the realm of teaching is technology, information and communication technology to be specific.
Many areas of the daily are now being influenced by these innovations. From transportation to basic communication, technology is playing a key role in ensuring efficiency and accuracy. For this reason, one should not be surprised with the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in the field of education. However, the use of ICT in education is relatively new (, 2000). It is only in recent years that information technology was introduced as a subject in its own right and as a tool for teaching ( 2000).
Despite being ion its infancy stage, the use of ICT in education is receiving a certain degree of support from various sectors of the society including the government. Many countries are showing interest in the use of ICT in education and thus the allocated funds for the introduction or maintenance of ICT programs in schools. Governments fund software and hardware purchases for schools. In many cases, even the private sector is lending a helping hand. This can be seen in the programs of some internet service providers and computer companies in promoting the utilization of ICT in education.
Nevertheless, a greater part of the teaching population is using the tool sporadically (, 1995-1996). Often, the reason behind the use of ICT is out of fulfilling an obligation. This means that many teachers are still not convinced of the benefits that they and their students can get out of ICT. This is unfortunate since there are evidences that showing that ICT can help in improving teaching and learning methods ( 1995). This suggests that ICT should be carefully studied in order to determine it actual contribution to both student learning and the teaching of the subject.
ICT in Mathematics
One of the subjects, where the use of ICT is being done and studied at the same time is Mathematics. Since mathematics is abstract in nature, teachers are constantly looking for ways or tools to help their pupils understand the underlying concepts of the lessons. One of these tools is ICT. According to (1998), numeracy becomes better when teacher use and allows their students to use resources including ICT in order to model mathematical ideas and methods. In, addition, ICT is seen as a tool that will be able to help students with problem-solving which a basic, but utterly essential, skill needed in the mathematical world.
Rationale
Majority of the student population has always perceived mathematics as a difficult subject. This is the reason why many also find it difficult to learn the ideas behind the subject since they make themselves believed that it is not doable in their case. However, the use of ICT is promising to change the perspective of both students and teachers towards learning and teaching mathematics. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the effects of ICT in learning and teaching mathematics in order to help both students and teacher to improve their performances in the field of mathematics.
Part B: Research Design
Statement of the Research Questions
According to (2000), there are three different uses of ICT. The first one is as a data analysis tool. The second use is as a problem solving or mathematical modeling tool and the last use is to integrate the technology to mathematics with a context. This suggests that ICT can be very useful in making students understand the seemingly complex mathematical processes involved such as problem solving. In addition, many researchers have discussed the effects on education of technological forces ( 1996; , 1993)
This suggests that the use of ICT in teaching mathematics can possibly help students in changing their perception about the difficulty of excelling in the said subject. In turn, this will help teachers in planning their teaching approach to better aid the students in their learning. This is the side of ICT in mathematics teaching that this research will explore. In order for this to be realized, the following research questions must be answered.
How has ICT influenced the role of a mathematics teacher?
- factors inhibiting the use of ICT in teaching
- What stops teachers from using ICT, i.e. problems/challenges teachers face in using ICT.
- Teachers’ attitudes towards ICT teaching
How has ICT have an impact on the student’s performance?
- Effects of ICT on student’s achievement – before and after using ICT
- Does ICT affect the pace of learning?
- Does it help children to make better progress towards achieving the learning objectives.
What are teachers and pupils’ view/perspectives in the use of ICT?
- What knowledge or skills being gained.
- The disadvantages/advantage in educational context
- Culture views
- Factors that contribute to pupils’ attitude
- How does ICT affect the ability to differentiate in teaching and student learning?
Answering the abovementioned questions will ensure that the needed data were gathered and that the objectives of the research have been met. Therefore, the research questions posted above will serve as the researchers guide to ensure that pertinent data will be collected. This will maximize time and resources since costly mistake by pursuing irrelevant information can be avoided.
Data Collection
Qualitative research as a method of data collection is also known as the participative observation. This suggests that the researcher be immersed among the participants of the research instead of just observing them from a distance. Malinowski advocated this method at the turn of the century of research (, 1992, p. 45). This implies that qualitative research is not a new tradition. Therefore, it has been tried and tested through the years. The efficiency of this method proved to be invaluable for many research.
In the research being proposed, it is important that the researcher be able to identify the current perception of the students regarding mathematics as a subject. This means that the research must be able to know the factors that affect the thinking of the students towards learning mathematics and how it affects their performance on the subject. For example, is the notion that math is hard to understand actually affects how the students comprehend their lessons? Knowing this will allow the researcher if any change will occur when ICT is implemented.
Aside form the students, it is also important to know the perception of the teachers since they are the once who will be implementing ICT. If the teachers do not believe in the capacity of ICT to facilitate changed when it comes to the learning process of the students, chances are the benefits of ICT will not be maximized. Knowing the perception of the teachers will also help in eliminating errors variability that will affect the result of the research.
Target Population
It is important that the researcher be able to define the target population to be able to determine the sampling method that needs to be used. This is the case since sampling methods to be used will be the reflection of the characteristics of the target population defined. Sampling can be classified into probability or non-probability. Probability methods describe the target population as a population where every member has non-zero probability of being chosen as subjects. Non-probability methods describe the target population as a population where members can be selected to be subjects in some random manner.
For this particular research, the proposed sampling methods to be used are those from the probability methods since it has been stated earlier that the target population will be chosen regardless of gender, race, experience or status. The utilization of the probability methods can also prove to be advantageous since sampling errors can be calculated. This means that the researcher will be able to determine the degree that sample differed from the population. There are three kinds of sampling under the probability method that can be used – random, systematic and stratified. The three samplings can be used independently or simultaneously (, 2005).
In connection with this, the research being proposed will be using the random method. Participants will be chosen regardless of their gender, ethnicity and other demographic factors. However, it is important to note the participants must be within the same age group to ensure that they belong to the same grade level. This will be done to eliminate margins for error or error variability. Ensuring that the participants of the study belong to the same grade level means that they have more or less the same level of understanding and skill when it comes to mathematics. Therefore, a certain degree of error variability will be eliminated.
Methodology
The research design used in the study is descriptive research. Descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study (, 1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing. In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (, 1994).
This means that both quantitative and qualitative data will be used in completing the research. For example, the qualitative will be obtained using survey questionnaires. The questionnaires will be given before and after the implementation of ICT in teaching mathematics. The before survey will reveal the current perception of the students regarding learning mathematics. On the other hand, the after survey will allow the researcher to determine if a change in perception and performance occurred due to the use of ICT.
The change in perception and performance will then provide the needed date to measure the degree of change after the implementation of ICT in mathematics teaching. Since the degree of change in perception and performance is quantifiable, this means that quantitative data will also be used in the research.
Previous researches are able to prove that change in the performance of the students in mathematics can change with the help of ICT. According to (2003), the use of computers resulted to fundamental changes in teaching mathematics. This is supported by the study conducted by . In his study, determined that the use of computers allows the building and running of complex mathematical models and easy exploration of what if questions resulted to the opening of new opportunities for mathematics (, 1991).
(1996) illustrated one practical example of the use of computers and the change that it brought with it. In the study by , dramatic changes were observed in calculus teaching in terms of data exploration and graphical or data analysis aided by computers. It has also been stated that students who are lagging behind were able to catch-up with their able classmates when ICT was introduced (, 1992).
Validity and Reliability of the Research Methods
Validity and reliability of the methods chosen must be determined to ensure that the findings of research are credible. In cases of assessing methodologies in researches, reliability refers to the stability or repeatability of the measures ( 2001). This means that the random error variation of the measure must be low in order to declare that it is stable. On the other hand, validity is divided into three – internal, external and construct. Internal validity refers to the perceived true cause of the findings observed in the research, external validity is the applicability of the findings to other situations and people and construct validity is the connection of the concepts and the actual findings (, 2001).
In relation to the research being proposed, as of the moment no problems can be stated in the validity of the method chosen since the method together with overall research design will ensure that the findings of the research are results of tightly woven activities where very aspect of the study was considered. This is clear in the selection of the participants for the research. Earlier, it was stated that the research design will be implement with the though of minimizing if not eliminating error variability in mind.
Ethical Issues
It is important for ethical considerations to be taken seriously. This is more so in the case of this research since the participants of the study are young impressionable minds. It is also the case that the research will be investigating the performance of the students. This means that the performance of the participants will vary. It is being recognized by the researcher that there exists uneven development among people. Therefore, the researcher must be careful as to not make the lagging participants feel that they are inferior compared to the participants who did well. The purpose of the research and the participation of the students must be made clear form the beginning. The participants must to told that the purpose of the study is not to expose who is doing poorly in class rather the study is being conducted to ensure that everybody will get the chance to excel in mathematics.
In addition, issues such as anxiety be encountered. In this case computer anxiety can pose as one of the hindrances that will affect he study. Computer anxiety pertains to the uneasiness of using a computer, which is brought about by the fear that something might go wrong ( 2003). This fear of things going wrong can be attributed to the fact that using computers can also be complicated given that, the user must be able to determine the correct to use for a given purpose ( 1997). In addition, technical problems can be difficult to handle especially for people who do not have background in troubleshooting computer problem much like the participants of the study.
This means that the researcher must be able to resolve cases of computer anxiety both among students and teachers since they are the key players in the study. In addition, resolving such issues would mean that students and teachers will be ready to integrated ICT into their learning and teaching methods respectively. In addition, the research must be able to make the participants feel that the study will actually help them in decreasing computer anxiety and thus preparing them for the real world where ICT is being used on a daily basis. This is supported by the statement that increase exposure or use of computer will decrease computer anxiety ( 1984; , 1986),
Significance of the Study
The purpose of the research being proposed is to help students and teachers improve their performance in mathematics through the aid of ICT. The findings of the study will be able to benefit both teachers and students. This means that the findings of the study will be beneficial to the educational system since the research will be able to support previous claims that ICT can help improve teaching and learning in school. This also suggests that the findings of the research will allow teachers to integrate ICT into their teaching and thus widening their resources, which is an important aspect of teaching.
In addition, students will be better exposed to the benefits of computers. This means that the status of computers in the education filed will be elevated to more than just equipment used for typing of surfing the internet. The findings of the research can be a renewed look on a technology that offers countless possibilities for its users.
Part C: Review of Pilot Study
There are many research tools that the researcher can use in order to gather the data needed for the study. These include survey, interview and observation to name a few. It is important to note the research tools to be used must be in line with the kind of data that the research wants to gather. Earlier, it has been stated that the research needs to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. In order for this to be realized, there is a necessity that the research employs proven research tools that will yield the most useful kind of data.
In order to collect the majority of the data to be analyzed, the research will be using survey questionnaire. The aim of the survey is to determine the perception of the students and teachers regarding the implementation of ICT in teaching mathematics. The survey will be given twice – before and after the implementation of ICT in class. The survey will be in the form of a four point likert scale so that the degree of agreement of disagreement can be given a numerical value and thus calculated (Underwood, 2004).The points to be used are agree, strongly agree, disagree and strongly disagree.
This kind of was used in a similar study conducted by in 2003. With the use of the survey questionnaire, the researchers were able to determine how the participants perceive their ability to solve mathematical before and after the use of ICT. Questions range from the perceived ability of the participant to the exertion of efforts in improving their skills at problem solving. The questions included in the survey questionnaire for the said study was sufficient since it was able to collect of the needed information to complete the computation and thus allow the researchers to formulate a reasonable and supported conclusion.
The survey was able to do this since it used the kinds of questions that would yield the best and most relevant possible answers. This means that the effectiveness of the survey methods lays on the ability of the researcher to formulate questions that will encourage the participants to provide answers that will be valuable to the research. In the case of the study conducted by , the questions were just right and thus no perceivable areas that needs improvements can be commented on.
Therefore, for the research being proposed, it is important that the questions included in the survey be closely based on the research questions as well as the objectives of the research. Only with the consideration of what the research wants to achieve can the researcher be able to determine the kinds of questions that needs to be asked. In addition, the structure of the questions must be easy to understand as to encourage the participants to give honest answers and not answer the survey randomly.
In the end, the effectiveness of the survey will depend on the researcher and her ability to formulate the best set of questions available. This is essential for the research being proposed since the pool of data will depend on the result of the survey.
Reference
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