Adoption of Wxmaxima software in the classroom: effect on students' motivation and learning of mathematics

This study investigates the effect of usage of an open-source software, WxMaxima, on students’ achievement in calculus scores and their motivation towards learning mathematics using the software. The study involved of 62 secondary school students (32 in the treatment group, 30 in the control group) in a Malaysian school. ANCOVA analysis showed that that the group with access to WxMaxima achieved significantly better test scores as compared with the group which followed the traditional teaching method. Students in the treatment group were also better motivated towards learning mathematics; they were more attentive and showed more confidence in learning calculus. However, there was no significant difference in terms of ‘satisfaction’ in learning mathematics between the two groups. The results from this study suggest that the integration of computer technology in the teaching and learning of calculus and of mathematics in general was generally beneficial

Inquiry-Based Learning in the Elementary and Middle School Setting

There are many instructional strategies available to educators for use in the classroom. With this variety of strategies, there is a responsibility for educators to ensure the strategies selected for use have a positive impact on student learning. One such instructional strategy used in classrooms around the world is inquiry-based learning. This strategy allows students to create their own understanding of content while teachers act as facilitators. Research about inquiry-based learning in the elementary and middle school setting indicates it has a positive impact on student learning. These positive influences on learning include greater academic achievement in multiple content areas and increased learning behaviors, such as engagement, motivation, and flow. The strategy has also been shown to help students develop necessary thinking skills, including science processing skills and critical thinking. Administrators and classroom teachers can benefit from the addition of inquiry-based learning into school practices as it is suited for a range of grade levels and content areas

Discovering the formal definition of limit through exploration in dynamic geometry environments

The formal definition of limit is one mathematical idea that gives difficulties to most students. Therefore, it is necessary to provide engaging activity in order to construct the students' understanding about the definition. This study aims to shed light on designing activities with dynamic geometry software to facilitate the students in discovering the formal definition of limit. Forty-eight students participated in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the students' responses in and attitudes toward the activities. The students' responses were gathered directly by using the dynamic geometry software whereas an online questionnaire was used to collect the students' attitudes. The results of the study then presented in this paper. Further, a set of suggestions in designing and implementing dynamic geometry environments to foster students' understanding about formal definition of limit was also proposed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 24 references, ICoMAAL 201

Mobile learning: benefits of augmented reality in geometry teaching

As a consequence of the technological advances and the widespread use of mobile devices to access information and communication in the last decades, mobile learning has become a spontaneous learning model, providing a more flexible and collaborative technology-based learning. Thus, mobile technologies can create new opportunities for enhancing the pupils’ learning experiences. This paper presents the development of a game to assist teaching and learning, aiming to help students acquire knowledge in the field of geometry. The game was intended to develop the following competences in primary school learners (8-10 years): a better visualization of geometric objects on a plane and in space; understanding of the properties of geometric solids; and familiarization with the vocabulary of geometry. Findings show that by using the game, students have improved around 35% the hits of correct responses to the classification and differentiation between edge, vertex and face in 3D solids.This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Design Star CDT (AH/L503770/1), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) projects LARSyS (UID/EEA/50009/2013) and CIAC-Research Centre for Arts and Communication.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of robot for teaching geometry to fourth graders

The results of the TIMSS 2007 (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, 2008) show that in comparison with their academic achievement in mathematics, South Korean students’ interest and efficacy in and self-concept in relation to the discipline rank relatively low. In the effort to help address this issue, this study investigated the effects of the implementation of robot in an elementary-level Korean math class, examining student cognitive and affective domains before, immediately after, and three months after treatment. The participants in this study were 121 fourth graders (11 to 12 years old) at a public elementary school in an urban district in Korea. The participants were randomly selected from four classes and then randomly assigned to either the “Robot” group (58 children) or the “Ruler & Protractor” group (63 children). Our findings are as follows: concerning student achievement in the cognitive domain, no statistically significant result was found. As for the affective domain, after treatment, the Robot group’s levels of interest and curiosity toward mathematics and participation in their mathematics class were statistically higher than those of the Ruler & Protractor group. This remained true at the delayed posttest. A correlation analysis between achievements in cognitive domain, results of the observation test during class, and results of the self-assessment test in affective domain showed that in the case of the Ruler & Protractor group, their instruction in mathematics class only contributed to cognitive domain. However, in the case of the Robot group, treatment contributed to both cognitive and affective domains. In conclusion, robots have potential to replace traditional ruler and protractor use in geometry education from the perspective of their effects on cognitive and affective domains

The impact of educational material use on mathematics achievement: a meta-analysis

As a result of rapid development in technology, utilizing materials in education has become important. To date, researchers have often explored the effects of using educational materials in mathematics instruction on academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to combine the empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of educational materials in mathematics. For this aim, a meta-analysis method was used in the current research. In line with the aim of the research, 54 experimental studies published between years of 2005 and 2016 were included in the meta-analysis and 58 effect sizes were calculated from these studies. The results of the meta-analysis showed that using materials in mathematics has a positive and high influence on achievement. According to analysis of mediator variables that are related to instructional characteristics, significant differences are found in the variables of mathematics topic, type of material, and application time. However, teaching with materials in mathematics did not seem to differ in effectiveness from teaching without materials, in terms of methodological characteristics of the studies

Incorporating Real World Geometry Problems Into Geometry Classrooms

The question posed to conduct this research was: How do teachers incorporate real world problems into geometry classrooms? There is no single answer to this question, but there are many answers. The research done in this literature review not only answers this question but also the question of why. The research reviewed was organized into the sections of Inquiry, Student Engagement, and Mathematical Understanding. Teachers can incorporate the real world into mathematics classrooms through inquiry, problem-based learning, and every day real world objects. Teachers should do this because it increases student engagement and leads students to higher mathematical understandings. Not only does incorporating the real world into the classroom do all of these things for students, it does so much more. It can allow students to see mathematical connections to themselves, their interests, and the world around them. It can allow students to grow in skills such as communication with others, investigation, mathematical modeling, and the love of learning. There is not doubt that incorporating real world problems into any mathematical classroom will increase students’ engagement and understanding. It is time to use inquiry based teaching methods in addition to traditional methods for the benefit of the future generations

Utjecaj nastave uz pomoć računala na postignuća i stavove učenika sedmog razreda prema matematici: slučaj obrade teme „Uspravni kružni valjak“

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) regarding concepts of “surface area and volume of vertical circular cylinder” on seventh grade students’ achievement and attitudes toward mathematics. A pre-test and post-test control group with quasi-experimental study design was used. This research was carried out with 49 seventh grade Turkish students (24 students in the experimental group, and 25 students in the control group). The students in the experimental group were taught with CAI, while the students in the control group were taught in the traditional way (textbook-based direct instruction). The “Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT)” and the “Mathematics Attitude Scale (MAS)” were administered to both groups as a pre-test and a post-test. The data were analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA). The results indicated that CAI significantly improved students’ mathematics achievement compared to the results achieved through traditional instruction. However, it was found that short-term CAI implementation did not make a significant difference on students’ attitudes toward mathematics.Cilj je ovoga rada ispitati učinak nastave uz pomoć računala na postignuća i stavove učenika sedmog razreda prema matematici kada se radi o pojmovima kao što su „oplošje i obujam uspravnog kružnog valjka“. Korišten je kvazieksperimentalan dizajn istraživanja koji je uključivao kontrolnu skupinu na kojoj je proveden predtest i posttest. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 49 učenika sedmog razreda u Turskoj (24 učenika u eksperimentalnoj skupini i 25 učenika u kontrolnoj skupini). Učenike u eksperimentalnoj skupini poučavalo se uz pomoć računala, a učenici u kontrolnoj skupini poučavani su na tradicionalan način (izravna nastava koja se temelji na udžbenicima). Na obje skupine proveden je „Test postignuća iz matematike“ i „Ljestvica za ispitivanje stavova prema matematici“, kao predtest i posttest. Podaci su analizirani multivarijatnom analizom varijance (MANCOVA). Rezultati upućuju na to da nastava uz pomoć računala značajno poboljšava postignuća učenika u matematici u usporedbi s rezultatima dobivenima provedbom tradicionalnog načina nastave. Međutim, pokazalo se da kratkotrajna primjena nastave uz pomoć računala nije značajno promijenila stavove učenika prema matematici

Mathematics learning strategy and mathematics achievement among middle school students in North of Jordan

The results of 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) showed that Jordanian 8th grade students’ achievement in mathematics is low. Mathematics Learning Strategy (MLS) has been identified as one of the attributing factors. To date, there is little study on MLS and mathematics achievement among Jordanian 8th grade students. The study aimed to identify the level of differences between genders based on number, algebra, geometry, mathematics achievement and spatial visualization, and to what extent would the student’s MLS factors such as attitude, motivation, self-regulation, self-efficacy and mathematics anxiety contribute to mathematics achievement. Additionally, the study aimed to determine whether spatial visualization mediates between the MLS factors and mathematics achievement. The respondents in this study, who comprised of 360 students, were selected through stratified random sampling, from eight public middle schools in Alkoura District in the North of Jordan. The study used 65 items to assess the MLS. The mathematics test contains 30 items (number, algebra & geometry) while the spatial visualization test contains 32 items. The findings showed that female students scored higher than male students in numbers, algebra, and mathematics test but there are no gender differences in geometry scores. Male students performed better than their female counterparts in spatial visualization. The results also showed that mathematics attitude, motivation, self-regulation and selfefficacy contributed to mathematics achievement except mathematics anxiety. Spatial visualization plays a mediating effect between mathematics achievement and attitude, motivation, and mathematics anxiety. This study contributes to knowledge and social cognitive theory about the students’ affective domain base on MLS factors and spatial visualization which is important as prerequisite knowledge for learning mathematics. Mathematics educators in Jordan need to consider the MLS factors when teaching mathematics to 8th grade students to help improve their mathematics achievement

The Effects of Exploratory Learning Environments on Students' Mathematics Achievements

The objective of this dissertation was to advance the knowledge about mathematics instruction regarding the use of exploratory graphical embodiments in Pre-K to College levels. More specifically, the study sought to find out which graphical representations generate the highest learning effect sizes as well as which teaching method is the most supportive when graphical representations are applied. The dissertation is organized into three coherent research studies that correspond to different schooling levels. The primary method of data analysis in this study was meta-analysis supported by synthesis of qualitative and comparative studies. A total of 73 primary studies (N = 9055) from 22 countries conducted over the past 13 years met the inclusion criteria. Out of this pool, 45 studies (N = 7293) were meta-analyzed. The remaining 28 studies (N = 1762) of qualitative or mixed method designs where scrutinized for common themes. The results support the proposed hypothesis that visualization aids mathematics learning. At the primary level, the mean effect size for using exploratory environment was ES = 0.53 (SE = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.42-0.63), the mean effect size for using computerized programs at the grade levels 1-8 was ES = 0.60 (SE = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.53-0.66), and the results of applying congruent research techniques at the high school and college levels revealed an effect size of ES = 0.69 (SE = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.59–0.79). At each of the teaching level, implementing an exploratory environment generated a moderate effect size when compared to traditional teaching methods. These findings support a need for a broader implementation of exploratory learning media to mathematics school practice and provide evidence to formulate a theoretical instructional framework