IMPROVING JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

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IMPROVING JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
UNDERSTANDING OF MATHEMATICS THROUGH THE USE OF
COMPUTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTION
By
Justice K. B. Annan
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1.0 INTRODUCTION

• A Computer - Assisted Instruction program is a
  computer software application in which
  information that aids teaching and learning and
  encourages interaction is presented on computers
  in the form of tests or in multimedia formats,
  which include photographs, videos, animation,
  speech and music (Encarta, 2004).

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

• The use of Computer - Assisted Instruction in
  education dates back to the middle of the
  nineteen fifties and early nineteen sixties. A
  group of educators from Stanford University in
  California, U. S. A., worked together with
  International Business machines Corporation (I.
  B. M.) to produce computer -Assisted Instruction
  software. This was later introduced into some
  selected elementary schools (Encarta, 2004).

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Some notable examples of Computer Assisted
Instruction software are

• drill and practice software,
• tutorial software, and
• simulation software

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

• The benefits of Computer Assisted Instruction
  to any educational system are enormous
• Stimulates learning
• Provides immediate feedback on tests results
• Enables students to practice test items until
  their answers are correct
• Engages the interest of the student and
  motivates him/her to learn
• Enables the student to learn at his/her own
  pace and at his private environment
• increases students independence for studies

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

• Douglas N. Arnold, writing on the topic
  Computer Aided Instruction has made a
  remarkable observation
• Although it is difficult to assess the
  effectiveness of any educational system, numerous
  studies have reported that Computer assisted
  instruction is successful in raising examination
  scores, improving student attitudes, and lowering
  the amount of time required to master certain
  material. While study results vary greatly, there
  is substantial evidence that C. A. I. can enhance
  learning at all educational levels.

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1.1 Purpose of the study

• The study was undertaken to investigate the
  impact of the use of Computer Assisted
  Instruction on Junior Secondary School students
  understanding of Mathematics.

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1.2 Significance of the study

• The study
• show - cased the multi faceted properties of
  C. A. I software in the Mathematics classroom
• has provided adequate information that will
  aid the Ministry Of Education, Ghana Education
  Service and Mathematics educators to access the
  viability of the use of Computer Assisted
  Instruction in providing individualized
  instruction in Mathematics

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2.0 METHODOLOGY

• The procedure followed in conducting the entire
  research is outlined in this section. The
  setting, target population, sample, sampling
  techniques, as well as the type of instrument
  used in data collection and analysis are also
  discussed.

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2.1 The setting

• The study was carried out in two towns in the
  Ashanti Region of the Republic of Ghana
• Abuakwa
• Tanoso

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2.2 Population

• Students in three Preparatory/Junior Secondary
  schools,
• Mathematics teachers and
• computer literacy teachers
• were covered by the study in the Abuakwa
  Tanoso area.

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2.3 Sample

• Two (2) J.S.S 1 classes
• Six J.S.S 2 classes and
• two (2) J.S.S three classes

in the Tanoso Abuakwa area were used for the
study as shown in the table in the next slide
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Sample used for the study
Name of School Class ? of pupils ? of mathematics teachers ? of computer literacy teachers
Tweneboa Kodua Int./J.S.S - Abuakwa J.S.S 1 J.S.S 2 J.S.S 3 42 277 47 4 -
John William Montessori School - Tanoso J.S.S 1 J.S.S 3 29 20 1 1
St Lisbert Int./J.S.S - Abuakwa J.S.S 2 29 1 1
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2.4 Research design

• The study was an action research i.e. the
  study of a social situation with a view to
  improving the quality of life within it.
  (Elliot,1999).

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2.5 Instruments
The researcher used the under listed instruments
for the study

• questionnaire
• interview
• aptitude test

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2.6 Data collection

• The researcher paid initial visits to the three
  selected schools and administered the
  questionnaire to the students. The table in the
  next slide shows the number of students who
  responded to the items on the questionnaire.

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Item ? of students who collected questionnaire ? of students who completed questionnaire
Have you used a computer before? Is there a computer Lab. in your school? What is the ratio of student to computer? What do you learn at the computer Lab.? Have you used the computer to study Mathematics before? Would you like to study Mathematics at your own pace with a computer? 444 444 444 444 444 444 444 444 442 441 444 440
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3.0 INTERVENTION DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

• 3.1 Intervention
• The researcher designed and used a new
  interactive student- centered Computer Software
  Application program for learning Mathematics as a
  Computer - Assisted instructional tool. The new
  software was designed to provide individualized
  instruction in Mathematics to meet the special
  needs of individual learners in Junior Secondary
  schools.

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3.2 Intervention design

• The intervention strategy, like other Computer
  Assisted Instruction software, was made up of
  an interactive lesson presentation and tests that
  could be used in the classroom, computer
  laboratory set up or at the comfort of ones
  home.

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3.3 Software used for the intervention design

• Macromedia Authorware 6
• Corel Draw 11
• Microsoft Power point 2002
• Microsoft Word 2002
• Microsoft Excel 2002
• Photo Impact 7

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3.4 Implementation of intervention strategy

• 3.41 Preliminary visits to schools
• Identification of basic schools in the Abuakwa
  Tanoso Township that had computer laboratories.
• Short listing of schools that would
  collaborate with the researcher.
• Administration of a questionnaire to collect
  data about the use of Computer assisted
  instructional software for studying Mathematics.
  

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3.42 Lesson presentation

• Each of the experimental groups had three hours
  of traditional classroom tuition and three hours
  interaction with the computer using the computer
  software application program
• The students in the controlled groups had a
  total of six (6) hours each of the traditional
  classroom tuition of Mathematics

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3.43 Administration of the post intervention
test
A test was administered to assess students on the
following behaviuoral/learning levels

• Knowledge recall, define, list, identify,
  name
• Understanding-explain, generalize, summarize
• Application - apply rules, methods, principles
• Analysis compare, separate, differentiate
• Synthesis put parts together to form a whole
• Evaluation compare features of different
  things and make comments/judgments

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4.0 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

• 4.1 Responses to question 8 in the questionnaire
• The response options for the question Have you
  used the computer to study Mathematics before?
  were coded 1 for a YES and 0 for a NO.
• Out of 444 respondents, only two students
  responded YES. Of those two students, one had
  used the computer to perform addition and
  subtraction operations whiles the other had used
  the computer to study fractions.

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Responses to question 8 in the questionnaire
Question 8 YES response NO response Non respondents
Have you used the computer to study Mathematics before? 2 437 5

• The result revealed that as many as 95. 54 of
  the respondents had never used the computer to
  study Mathematics.

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4.2 Analysis of data on assessment of students
behaviour/learning levels in sets Experimental
group (J.S.S 1)
Learning level ? of questions correctly answered ? of questions wrongly answered Percentage() of correctly answered questions
Knowledge Understanding Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation 113 48 34 24 26 12 48 10 8 34 3 17 70.2 82.8 81 41.4 89.7 41.4
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Graph of experimental group's learning
levels in sets (J.S.S 1)
100
89.7
82.8
81
80
70.2
60
of correctly answered
questions
41.4
41.4
40
20
0
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
1. Knowledge
3. Application
2. Understanding
Learning levels
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4.3 Analysis of data on assessment of students
behaviour/learning levels in sets Controlled
group (J.S.S 1)
Learning level ? of questions correctly answered ? of questions wrongly answered Percentage() of correctly answered questions
Knowledge Understanding Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation 107 56 30 27 32 16 128 28 19 57 10 26 45.5 66.7 61.2 32.1 76.2 38.1
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Graph of controlled group's learning
levels in sets (J.S.S 1)
100
76.2
80
66.7
61.2
60
45.5
of corectly answered
questions
38.1
32.1
40
20
0
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
1. Knowledge
3. Application
2. Understanding
Learning levels
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Comparing learning levels
100
80
Experimental
60
group
of correctly answered
question
Controlled group
40
20
0
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Application
Knowledge
Understanding
Learning levels
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4.4 Findings
Students in the experimental group

• had higher learning levels
• exhibited positive attitudes towards the
  learning of Mathematics
• progressed through the topics at different rates
  
• did collaborative work
• studied Mathematics with excitement and broke
  loose from their fear of the subject

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4.5 Challenges associated with the study

• Non existence of financial support from
  Government and Non governmental organizations
  for such a study
• Teachers resistance to the attempt to integrate
  ICT into education
• High cost of internet use
• Non existence of educational multimedia
  development courses at the countrys tertiary
  institutions

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5.0 REFLECTIONS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• 5.1 Accomplishment of the study
• Development of the first ever interactive
  student centered Computer Assisted
  Instructional program for teaching and learning
  Mathematics at the Junior Secondary School level
  in Ghana.
• The findings support the view held by B. F.
  Skinner and others that the computer and other
  mechanical devices enable teachers to provide
  individualized instruction to meet the special
  needs of each of their students.

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5.2 Recommendations

• That Mathematics educators employ the use of
  ICT for teaching/learning Mathematics at the
  Junior Secondary Schools
• That teacher trainees be equipped with the
  skills for using Computer - Assisted
  Instructional software and also skills for
  developing their own Computer Assisted
  Instructional tools
• That the Government/private sector sets up a
  national ICT Innovation Incubation centre for the
  development of ICT in education in Ghana

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5.3 Suggestions for future research

• The study could be carried out in the senior
  secondary schools and even at the tertiary
  institutions to find out the impact of the use of
  Computer Assisted Instruction on students
  behaviuoral/learning levels.

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EXPERTS WHO OFFERED ADVICE SUGGESTIONS

• Alhaji Issifu Yidana, University of Education ,
  Winneba
• Prof. Sandra Turner, Ohio University, USA
• Dr. Kofi Mereku, University of Education ,
  Winneba
• Rev. Emmanuel Dadebo, ICT Coordinator, Min. of
  Edu., Science and Sports
• Nana Sarpong, Programmer, Childnet Pub.
• Mr. Adade, Planning Unit, KNUST

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APPRECIATION

• THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING PART OF THE
  FIRST SECTION OF THIS PRESENTATION

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• www.aiti-kace.com.gh