Publication: The use of Graphmatica to facilitate students' achievement and understanding of functions and graphs of functions
Abstract
The Social-Constructivist theory stipulates that society has a role to play in education and that it is through interaction that people learn. Hence, in line with the "Thinking Schools...Learning Nation" initiative, this study aims at harnessing the power of Information Technology (IT), that is through the use of the computer, to facilitate learning within the classroom by using the IT medium as a platform to facilitate appropriate interaction within the classroom.<br><br>It has been noted that traditionally, students are passive within the classroom and what is more alarming is that students believe that they are actively participating when rote learning the material. However, as we move towards the Knowledge-Based Economy, the demands of society would increasingly require us to be able to apply our knowledge to different situations and across different content areas. However, students would need to appreciate the interrelationships that exist between mathematical concepts first, before being able to apply these concepts to other domains. Hence, this study aims at using IT to provide the students with the opportunities to explore the relationships that exists within mathematical content, and in particular, within the area of functions and graphs.<br><br>The research questions were thus set up to study the effectiveness of using Graphmatica in a Secondary Three classroom to teach the topic on Quadratic Graphs and Functions. In this study, 2 classes of Express stream students were selected. Both classes participated in the study and each class' post-test results were compared against their pre-test results to ascertain the effectiveness of using the software in teaching the topic on Quadratic Equations.<br><br>Besides trying to determine the effect of using IT, this study also tried to ascertain the effects that attitude had on the results of the study. The results of those positively disposed were compared against those of negatively disposed towards Mathematics (as a subject), the topics of Graphs and Functions and use of Computers in teaching this particular topic.<br><br>The results of this study found that the use of IT alone cannot guarantee the success of this program. Success is actually dependent on how able the teacher is at utilising the tool to effectively enable students to interact within the classroom. Also, the teacher has to be able to effectively integrate the medium into the traditional setting for maximum benefit. Besides, the mode of evaluation must also adapt to reflect this increasing emphasis on concepts for it is via our assessment that we communicate what is valued to the students. Hence, teachers must provide the students with an opportunity to explore the concepts and assess them on their conceptual understanding.<br><br>However, the results of this study could not be generalised due to several limitations of the study. Hence, in conclusion, this study recommends that additional work be carried out to ascertain the effectiveness of utilising IT on other topics within the Mathematics syllabus. It would even be beneficial to explore how it affects the learning in other content areas - a topic for future study.