Maths attainment at primary level using curriculum based multimedia in a VLE
Author
Brenda Walsh B.Ed MSc Educational Technologies
Institute of Technology, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Paper Type:
Research Paper
Abstract
Social networking is an integral part of children’s lives today. A pilot project on the use of a VLE at primary level was run in partnership with The Education Centre, Tralee. The centre hosted the maths module Digimaths on their Moodle learning management system. The growth of virtual learning environments (VLE) and learning management systems (LMS) in the European and British educational sector is a trend which is continuing to grow. There are indications that education in Ireland will follow a similar trend. Moodle VLE was of interest as it is open source software and therefore affordable to Irish schools.
The development of the Digimaths product was based on the Irish primary school mathematics’ curriculum. The research investigated whether a curriculum aligned multimedia application in a Moodle VLE encouraged students to improve their scores in the standardized tests, in particular the primary school SIGMA-T test. Participants’ attitude and self-efficacy in relation to maths were also included in the study.
Keywords
Education, VLE, primary, virtual learning, self efficacy, mathematics, net generation
Maths attainment at Primary level through curriculum based multimedia in a VLE P 19
Maths attainment at Primary level using curriculum based multimedia in a VLE
1. Introduction
The primary focus of this research was to analyze the impact of an interactive multimedia application on the maths attainment of sixth class girls, in particular the SIGMA-T tests. The application, Digimaths, was aligned to the Irish primary school curriculum. SIGMA-T is a norm-referenced mathematics test which has been standardized using a nationally representative sample of more than 13,000 pupils. Continuing underachievement in mathematics is happening in many countries and educators are looking at ways to improve mathematics attainment.
In addition the research analyzed the impact of using a Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) to host this application. The research focused on a number of key questions.
1.1. Key Questions
1. Were the SIGMA-T results impacted by the Digimaths application?
2. Has the VLE and the Digimaths application changed the student’s attitude to
mathematics?
3. Has the participant’s self-efficacy improved in relation to maths?
4. Did the participants enjoy the experience of learning online?
1.2. Rationale
Many students are familiar with social networking sites, wikis and blogs. Teachers need to be incorporating these tools in the classroom to equip students for their role in the 21st century workplace (Kennedy 2007). Webwise is the Irish Internet Safety Awareness Node of the EU Information Society’s Insafe network and is managed by National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) on behalf of the Department of Education and Science. In 2006 Webwise conducted a survey of children’s use of the Internet and found that of those children surveyed in Ireland, 90% of children had a home computer.
Out of that 90%, 70% had accessed the Internet at home the previous week and a further 21% had Internet access “through personal devices such as mobile phones and games consoles” (NCTE, 2006, P5). In Europe the Eurobarometer survey completed in May 2006 released the following statistics, “50% of children (<18 years old) in the EU25 have used the Internet, rising from just 9% of those under six to 1 in 3 6-7 year olds, 1 in 2 8-9 year olds and more than 4 in 5 teenagers aged 12-17” (Staksrud et al, 2006, P3).
Many European schools are adopting LMSs or VLEs. The British government has now decided that by 2008 all 30,000 schools must have an e-learning platform (Kenny, 2007). The British Education Secretary Ms Morris stated that “For the first time, it allows teachers to teach pupils as individuals ... and the most able and the most disaffected can be taught in the same classroom."(BBC Education News).
NCTE stated “The key role we assign our schools is to facilitate each young person to acquire the skills and competencies necessary for life. The 21st Century is the knowledge society, where ICT is at the heart of economic and social change, permeating all our lives as members of the Information Society” (Morrissey, 2005). Irish schools should provide opportunities for children to develop the ICT literacy skills necessary to participate in the opportunities offered in the global knowledge society. This shift from the industrial age to a knowledge based information society is demanding that education as we know it must change. Teachers need to understand the learner of today to provide effective teaching.
The research serves as a pilot on the viability of a VLE environment at primary level and analyzed the constraints and affordances of teaching mathematics online using customized applications.
2. Literature Review
2.1. The Net Generation
Children are using social network sites at home such as BEBO. They are growing up with tools like blogs, wikis, and Bluetooth. There is a lot of research referring to the “net generation”. Research exists that students will learn differently having grown up with digital media. The net generation, intuitively use media, text and audio and have the need to be connected always as networking is important to them. Speed is often more important than accuracy and they have faster response times and multitask often. They learn well through discovery learning by exploring for themselves or with their peers. Social aspect of learning is important as they gravitate toward activities that promote and reinforce social interaction.
Some of the negatives associated with the Net Generation are their text literacy may be less well developed. They can have a short attention span and they can often lack reflection. They do not always check the quality of their sources. Oblinger et al (2006, P2.7) observed that their learning preferences may include
• Teams
• Structure
• Engagement and Experience
• Visual and Kinaesthetic
• Things that Matter
According to Mason et al (2008, P9) Oblinger’s findings were confirmed by other reports such as a Hungarian report from Karpati (2002) and Veen (2004) where he refers to Millennials as Homo Zapiens due to their excessive remote control use. Kapp (2006) notes that kids as young as 9 – 14 are accessing sites that use mashups, RSS feeds, chat boards, Podcasts, Blogs, Video Feeds, Customised options like MyNick, MyYahoo etc and he argues that “We better stop bad mouthing Web 2.0 or eLearning 2.0 and start using these technologies or be passed up by the “digital natives” as Prensky calls them” Oblinger (2005 P2.13) observed that the Net generation “crave interactivity—an immediate response to their each and every action. Traditional schooling provides very little of this compared to the rest of their world”.
2.2. VLEs
VLEs can offer this interactivity and response times that students crave. VLEs also addresses the Net generation’s other learning preferences such as it can offer team work and access to community and environment based projects more readily.
Mason and Rennie (2008 P6-P7) refer to a report by FutureLab et al (2006) where Castells argues that life in the 21st century is lived through networks, both real and virtual, and they are now the ”fundamental underpinning structure of social organisation”. This networking is happening in a real and virtual environment outside school today and teachers can utilize the developing social-networking culture to encourage learning.
VLEs are expected “to be facilitators in changing education towards a more learner-centered constructivist approach” according to the European Schoolnet Survey (Vuorikari, 2003). 90% of respondents seems to be happy using VLEs, saying that they would recommend VLEs to their colleagues stating that use of the VLE combined with a more “active” pedagogical approach, the possibility to collaborate, and given independence to learners, helped to deliver expected pedagogical outcomes and made a difference in learners’ achievement. (Vuorikari, 2003, P21). The SchoolNet survey also noted that the ability to differentiate and alleviate some learning difficulties was seen as a positive factor for using VLEs. Often in the traditional class setting children with low self-efficacy or shy children are reluctant to speak. Bowman (1999) found that discussions boards could be “polyvocal and democratic” as everyone has relatively equal voice. Bowman also suggests that asynchronous learning affords the learner the opportunity to reflect on what was said by other members of the group before participating which could lead to more meaningful learning. Tools such as wikis blogs and the discussion forum offer the learner the opportunity to learn through collaboration. As students today have an interest in environmental and community projects, a VLE could offer collaboration with the wider community and fulfill those interests.
2.3. VLEs and Multimedia
Robyler (2006, P37) has categorised the various learning theories into two main epistemologies:
· Objectivists who view learning as transmitted knowledge where teaching needs to be directed structured and teacher lead. Standardised testing is important as it offers accountability.
· Constructivists who see knowledge as constructed in the mind by participating in various learning experiences. Learning is student centred and learners should be able to express what they have learnt through different ways, not just written tests.
Robyler (2006, P45) cites Molenda (1991) who felt that a way of encompassing the two epistemologies of learning was required so students would be able to use either approach depending on the characteristic of the topic or the learning needs. Using multimedia within a VLE can offer students both epistemologies of learning.
Recommendation 4.2 of the Department of Education and Science strategy report Investing Effectively in Information and Communications Technology in Schools, 2008-2013 which was published in July 2008 recommends that more Irish based resources are available online and collaboration take place through the use of VLEs. This was as result of the submissions received by the strategy group indicating that many time-pressurized teachers would like to integrate ICT in the classroom but the lack of software that was relevant to the Irish curriculum deterred this integration (Strategy Report, P19).
“Scoilnet (www.scoilnet.ie), the portal for Irish education, must be expanded to provide a dynamic and comprehensive library of Irish curriculum-related tagged content to ensure easy access to online curriculum resources. In addition, Scoilnet should provide access to online content creation tools, learning platforms, particularly those which support and encourage online content collaboration and sharing among teachers and students, e.g., VLEs and other services” (Recommendations 4.2 P20).
2.4. Self Efficacy
High self-efficacy towards mathematics plays an important role in mathematics attainment. Bruning (2004, P112) uses Bandura’s definition of self-efficacy as a judgment of one’s ability to perform a task within a specific domain. Bruning discusses the impact self-efficacy has on learning where high self-efficacy is associated with greater flexibility and resistance to negative feedback and improved performance. Students with high self-efficacy link their failure to poor effort whereas students with poor self-efficacy link their failure to poor ability. Collins (1982) studied self-efficacy amongst high, average and low ability mathematics students (Schunk 2004, P113). She found high and low self-efficacy in each group. She set each group mathematics problems to solve and found that though performance was linked to ability, those with high self-efficacy solved more problems and reworked more problems they had missed than those with low self-efficacy. This applied to all groups. High self-efficacy is essential for improved mathematical ability as research shows the students won’t attempt mathematical problems if their self-efficacy is low. Wiliam (2007, P28) refers to the work of Dweck and others whose studies have found that girls felt their successes were due to effort and their failures were due to lack of ability and this caused “learned helplessness”. Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where they feel helpless despite having the ability to attempt the work. This learned helplessness is often evident in mathematics. Wiliam (2007, P9) argues that “Feedback to learners should focus on what they need to do to improve, rather than on how well they have done, and should avoid comparison with others.” He stresses that ability in mathematics is incremental and the more the student practices the better he/she becomes. Assessment should try to avoid comparison and focus on the saying “practice makes perfect”, as this will lead to higher self-efficacy. Bouniaev (2005, P27) argues that feedback may not be instant in a traditional classroom setting. If a student has formed a misconception, which is not corrected immediately then it can become encoded in the student’s memory. An online environment offers the opportunity to provide immediate feedback and avoid a misconception forming.
3. Methodology
In this study a non-probability sampling technique called convenience sampling was used as the researcher’s own class was used. The Participants were 6th class girls from a girl’s
primary school in North Kerry. The control group was the other 6th class from the same
school. The control group did not partake in utilizing the VLE or using the Digimaths
application. They were taught the selected topics as part of the normal class teaching. There are 25 pupils in the participants group and 26 in the control group.
3.1. Data Collection Tools
Due to the small sample size the research is qualitative in nature, leading data to be collected using a number of data collection techniques. Interviews, standardised test results, pre and post test, observations and questionnaires were used. Two questionnaires were designed, one to assess the initial reaction to the VLE and the participants access to computers. The second questionnaire was designed to provide data about the Digimaths application and the participants’ experience of the VLE. The decision to use a questionnaire and Likert scale type questions was based on the work of Frank and
Brunn. Frank and Brunn noted that the Likert scale was introduced as a technique to measure attitudes and that the standard evaluation form of VLEs is a questionnaire, as the questions are usually qualitative. They refer to the work of Diekmann (2002 209f) whose work shows that the Likert scale has become the standard for qualitative analysis.
4. Results
4.1 Were the SIGMA-T results impacted by the Digimaths application?