Professional Documents
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A1 Chapter 1 G Dunn 21 5 2010 Received From Soyibo May 26 2010
A1 Chapter 1 G Dunn 21 5 2010 Received From Soyibo May 26 2010
Introduction
The institution that is the target of this study has been experiencing dismal
approximately every three months. It was concluded in a recent Cayman Island Schools’
school was below average overall in relation to world standards. This was a fact that the
and Secondary Schools of the Cayman Islands (ESAU, 2007, p.2) confirmed. ESAU (2007)
stated that “students have little knowledge and understanding of geometry and statistics, and their
measuring skills are weak” .It was stated in the report that areas such as estimation and geometry
are often left until the end of the year and are frequently missed out due to shortage of time. Another
critical point that ESAU (2007) noted was the very little use of ICT in the teaching of mathematics.It
was noted in the report that not enough use was made of the existing ICT resources.
The current set of year ten students were all placed in the school based on their
In an effort to improve the incidents of learner apathy and poor performance of students in
this critical subject, new and innovative ways for the students to be more engaged in
are far reaching as mathematics helps to facilitate the development of higher level thinking
and problem-solving techniques in students. These techniques are critical to the success of
stone upon which civilisation as we know it today is built. Its importance cannot be
overemphasized. Most employers, Universities and Colleges require as a rule English and
Mathematics among the core subjects. Only in rare cases is Mathematics not required.
One of the guiding principles of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Mathematics
Syllabus (2008) is that Mathematics taught in Caribbean Schools should be relevant to the
existing and anticipated needs of Caribbean Society related to the abilities and interest of
Caribbean Students and aligned with the philosophy of the educational system. This
principle is the use of Mathematics as a problem-solving tool. It is also the springboard for
Syllabus, 2008).
determined, in part, by students’ attitude towards these subjects (Brodies, 1964; Mabee &
Duke 1960). The link between students’ attitude towards the Interactive Whiteboard Test
and their math performance was measured using a test on Coordinate Geometry.
Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations for the period 2002-2008, indicates
that over 60% of the students from the secondary school who sat the CSEC Mathematics
examinations attained a pass at the grade III level and below. Having examined some
writer was alarmed at the poor performance of the Mathematics candidates during the
period at the general proficiency level. Only 10% of the students obtained grade I at the
general proficiency level in 2006 and did so again in 2007.Even more alarming were the
cases of students who were not allowed to sit the annual CSEC mathematics examinations
ESAU (2007) stated that “The middle and lower ability students make too little progress
during their secondary years. By the time they reach the end of their schooling many students are not
entered for an exam which gives them access to a higher grade pass at CXC, GCSE or IGCSE. Take
for example, in 2006, 64% of the students at the main government high school were not entered for
With the results of the CSEC examination being so dismal, the researcher decided
to examine the CSEC results for students in the Cayman Islands, especially because the
stakeholders have claimed the low levels of numeracy and the increasing shortages of
suitably qualified Caymanians for certain mathematics based careers and jobs. THIS
Cayman Islands Overview Aims and Guiding principles, 2007; Cayman Islands School’s
Inspectorate, 2006). Table 1.1 shows the results of the analysis. Although the results
generally show pass rates that were higher than 50% except in 2008, however, the results
may be deceptive. This researcher is aware of the fact that only those students who score
above 60% on the mock or internal exams are allowed by the school to sit the CSEC
first world countries, such practices are not allowed. All the students in a given year group
are allowed to sit any external examinations regardless of their achievement on mock or
internal exams. The result of this selective process that the Caymanians practise gives
almost guaranteed or consistent positive results. Hence, bearing in mind the selected few as
a factor, the table indicates the appearance of steady progress or success in the teaching and
learning of mathematics. The average percentage pass at the Grades I-III levels for
Table 1.1
%
Year Cayman’s % % %
Cayman’s Cayman’s
Cayman’s extrapolated
Eligible number Cayman’s passes at
eligible passes if ALL
Cohort actually percentage grades I-III
cohort the eligible
entered after that were
actually cohort was
selection not selected
entered entered
2000 235 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2002 246 83 34 66 60 20
2003 221 46 21 79 96 20
2004 228 84 37 63 75 28
2005 241 63 24 76 60 16
2006 298 85 29 71 80 23
2007 288 125 43 57 62 22
2008 336 105 31 69 28 9
AVG. 262 84 31 69 66 20
Table 1.1 shows the percentage of Cayman’s cohort writing the general
proficiency of CSEC mathematics over the period 2002 to 2008 as well as the percentage
pass for Caymanian and Caribbean students in these examinations. The results appear to be
within a normal statistic distribution. The difference between the eligible cohort and those
who were selected to sit the exams shows that the results might be deceptive, considering
that students are usually selected to sit the exams based on their scores on internal exams
and the difference between the eligible cohort and those who wrote the exams. It would
seem that apparently those who were not selected might be those who did not show
sufficient mastery of the key concepts required to sit the external examinations. Thus, we
may conclude that such results should actually be higher and that had the full cohort done
the exams the results might have been different. With such a large percentage of students
not sitting the examinations, it is not surprising that the Island has a very small percentage
of students pursuing further studies in mathematics and a general shortage of locals skilled
in certain areas which require the use of skills learned in mathematics. Some of these areas
mechanical engineering. Many of the highly skilled workers in the Cayman Islands are
The Caymanian Government is on a drive to boost the education of the locals with the
intention of reducing their need form expatriates as soon as possible. To that end the Govt
has invested heavily in resources that may help to produce citizens who can occupy job and
career positions in the future. (National Consensus on the future of Education, 2005).
Table 1.1 also shows a more detailed comparison of the Grade 12 Caymanian
final year students who sit the CSEC examinations taking into account the number of
students who were not allowed to sit the examinations at year 12 due to the selection
process. Table 1.1 shows that an average of 262 students was present in the final year
classes who were all supposed to sit this major external examination after five years in high
school. Unfortunately, an average of 31% or those who attained the 60% requirement on
the internal examinations was actually entered for the years 2002 to 2008. Hence, an
average of 69% or nearly 70% of the students did not sit the CSEC mathematics
examination at the end of year 12. Of the selected 31%, 66% of those students attained
passes of grades III and above. The researcher then factored in the entire cohort that should
have sat the examinations and extrapolated what the real results would have been, if there
was no screening of candidates. The extrapolated results in Table 1.1 shows average passes
of 20%.These overall results, when viewed from this perspective appeared unsatisfactory
when compared with the overall results from the Caribbean. In a report on the status of
mathematics in the researched high school, it was found that “The standards of achievement
examinations at the end of Year 12 are lower than those expected internationally for the age
Table 1.2
Percentages of Caymanian and Caribbean students writing /passing CSEC for the years
2002-2008
Table 1.2 shows that the average passes for Caymanian students obtaining grades
I-III was 66%, while the Caribbean average was 37%. Hence, even though students were
selected to do the examinations, the school still had an average of 34% students from the
selected group failing the exams or obtaining grades IV-V during the seven years. If this
group of students who failed the CSEC mathematics examinations were not selected via the
mock exams, the extrapolated results would even be lower. Thus it can be seen why the
Government and other stakeholders were concerned about the levels of numeracy and lack
of suitable Caymanians to fill certain mathematically related jobs or jobs that had
The major aim of the CXC Mathematics Syllabus (2008) is to make Mathematics
relevant to the existing and anticipated needs of Caribbean society, related to the abilities
and interest of Caribbean students and aligned with the philosophy of the educational
system. It is also evident that citizens of Caribbean countries need to be able to use
mathematics in many forms of decision making such as shopping, commercial activities and
Mathematics is one of the core subjects that needed to fulfil that broad objective
of the syllabus, which also reflects the general objectives of the Caymanian society.
mindedness, self-reliance, persistence, the ability think critically and a spirit of enquiry
important, as it is the subject area in which students are taught about problem-solving.
Knowledge and understanding of mathematics concepts fosters the quality of human lives
because they impact on how humans think and function as citizens in any society. A
The dismal Mathematics performance of the students suggests that they are likely
to be less likely to think logically and critically as well as qualify for further studies in
certain necessary and technical fields. Perhaps, that is the reason why Caymanians depend
so heavily on expatriates in the highly skilled areas such edicalaccounting, land surveying,
electrical and mechanical engineering, medicine and banking. This is because it is becoming
increasing difficult to put their own people in such positions due to the unavailability of
their own citizens in such fields . As a result, the Caymanian government might have to
increase the number of expatriates to fill the gap in the job market. This may lead to more
High school students are not learning Mathematics the way they should because
their errors and misinterpretations in the previous years are still evident in the CSEC
Reports of 2000-2008. Interestingly, some of these errors have been written about in the
CSEC reports in the past tenfive years, yet no progress has been made. In 2004, the students
who sat the CSEC in Mathematics found it difficult to plot a straight line given the points
and a gradient. They also demonstrated an inability to write down the equation of the line.
Students’ lack of knowledge was on the relation of these concepts. They demonstrated their
inability to show clear and mathematically correct responses to the questions asked (CSEC
Report, 2004).
In the report National Consensus on the Future of Education in the Cayman
The government received tough messages from the stakeholders in our education
system...evidence exists that suggest that too many of their students were
leaving high school with very few recognised qualifications and in several
p.4).
Several prominent groups in the Caymanian society that insisted that the areas
that should be given more emphasis are in information and communication technology
(ICT) and critical thinking skills were later cited in the report. The ability to think critically
is one of the benefits of good mathematics teaching and learning (CXC Mathematics
Syllabus, 2008). It is because of this basic requirement for such an important subject that it
is imperative that alternative ways of teaching this subject in the most effective and efficient
change the way in which teaching and learning takes place in the Cayman Islands.
were experts in their particular subject area especially Mathematics and the
exploration of the use of other components of ICT in teaching and learning (Survey of
ICT and Education in the Caribbean Volume II: Country Reports, 2009).
have been developed to provide many kinds of tools ideally suited for the classrooms. One
such tool is the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) a component of the new initiative to
incorporate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into education .The IWB
provides teachers with a variety of teaching strategies that the traditional whiteboard does
not offer. This makes it possible to appeal to the different learning styles that student’s
exhibit, namely: visual, auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic, and to offer a variety of materials
for students to interact with ( Radcliff,2004).Several studies have supported the use of IWB
in the classroom(Armstrong, Barnes et al., 2005;Beeland, 2002; Gerard, 1999; Glover &
Miller, 2001; Greiffenhagen,2000; Oleksiw, 2005; Presig, 2000;Wall, Higgins, & Smith,
2005).
Whiteboards and Learning: A review of Classroom Cases Studies and Research Literature
(2004) which reported that when teachers use the IWB, students get a chance to become
more engaged in lessons. This may result in improved performance of students in the
particular subject area that they are taught. In addition, students may also become actively
involved in their own learning, encouraging more retention and comprehension of facts.
It has been suggested that the attitudes which students hold towards specific
subject areas are related to their academic performance in these subjects. (Brodie, 1994;
McBee & Duke, 1990). Evans (1985) has cited the work of Jordan (1986) who reported
coefficients ranging from +0.21 for English and Geography to +0.33 for Mathematics. Kahn
(1969) and Williams (1970) also obtained significant relationships between students’
students’ attitudes towards the IWB shown positive increases in students’ attitudes or
learner engagement towards the IWB (Arkansas, Kasimatis & Gialamas, 2009;Chin-Seng &
Many researches exist that champion the use of IWB to improve students’
performance in mathematics and other subjects.The literature also says that when IWBs are
used correctly,they can improve the performance of students in mathematics (Moss, Jewitt,
Amstrong, Cardini & Castle, 2007; Swan, Schenker & Kratwski, 2008; Paino, 2009).
However, there are other studies that have reported no statistically significant improvement
2007).
highlighted in several studies .It has been reported that under the correct
circumstances instances of one gender outperforming the other does occur ( Brandell
& Staberg, 2008; Goos, Brown & Makar, 2008; Kahveci, 2010; Mondejar-Jimenez,
2010; Ocak,2008; Panmuk, 2009). However, studies exist that show no relationship
background (SEB) and performance in mathematics (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Trusty, Plata &
Kok-Mun Ng, 2000; Williams, 1997). This is important because, this allows for
administrators to plan for situations that would have been disadvantageous to students from
a lower SEB.
Socioeconomic background and students’ attitudes towards the use of the interactive
whiteboard
girls, there are older studies which suggest it can be a significant factor. Volman and van
Eck (2001) cite two studies from the mid-1990s, one from the UK, one from the USA,
which looked at the combined effect of the SEB and gender on young people’s attitudes
towards computers. Both studies found that while lower socio-economic status was related
to lower levels of interest in computers for both genders, this was truer of girls than boys. A
possible explanation offered for this is the prevalence of traditional gender roles found in
lower-SES households and the extent to which parents encourage girls and boys to use the
computer. Sanders (2005) similarly noted that higher parental educational achievement is
revealed that there were many topics that Caribbean students found very challenging and
continued to perform poorly on. Coordinate geometry was one of these topics and it
appeared every year in the compulsory section of paper 2 as well as in the multiple-choice
paper (paper 1). The downward trend of the passes on this particular question gives a cause
Table 1.3 shows the maximum possible points, and the mean of Caribbean
students’ performance on the coordinate geometry question of paper two in the general
show graduala gradual decline in students’ performance on coordinate geometry with slight
Table 1.3
Maximum possible point and the mean percentages of Caribbean students’ performance on
the Coordinate Geometry question of paper two in the general proficiency of CXC-CSEC
mathematics over the period 2004-2008
Year Maximum points Mean percentages
2004 10 3.39
2005 11 3.46
2006 11 2.49
2007 12 2.05
2008 12 1.70
2009 15 2.50
Further support for the topic, coordinate geometry, comes from the fact that
Graphs as well as other aspects of coordinate geometry are often encountered in everyday
engineering and even more recently the development and use of Global Positioning Systems
(GPS). In fact the GIS Lounge and DM Geographics, LLC (2009) defines coordinate
geometry as a method of defining geometric features through the input of bearing and
distance measurements. Coordinate Geometry (COGO) functions are typically used by land
surveyors to enter traverses around spatial features such as parcels of land, calculating
precise locations and boundaries, measuring distances and bearings from reference points,
and to define curves using a point location, radius, arc-length, and so on.
society. In addition, the recent devastating impact of hurricane Ivan in 2004 on the Cayman
Islands and the extensive damage to its basic infrastructure INCOMPLETE STATEMENT.
The continuous rebuilding coupled with other Such developments require the presence of
engineers in nearly every field. This is a gap which the Caymanians are finding difficult to
fill as evidenced by the fact that over 45% of the Islands 49,000 inhabitants are expatriates
. A resource and recruitment officer in the Cayman Islands laments the lack of
local suitably qualified and skilled workers. Many careers and jobs that the Government in
the Cayman Islands offer are in fields that are linked to Coordinate Geometry. Examples
Fashion Designers (for a theatre performance). In fact, this researcher was recruited along
with dozens of teachers in 2006 to fill teaching vacancies in Mathematics and other areas.
All the teachers recruited would have had a pass in CSEC Mathematics of which Coordinate
integral part of almost any engineering course or training (Nopiah, Asshaari & Yaacob,
2009).. Hence, it is very important for individuals to master this aspect of mathematics
especially in a fast-paced world of ours today. Yet, the CSEC (2001-2008) reports showed
that many students are performing poorly in Coordinate Geometry. The Coordinate
Geometry strand was also chosen because as far as this researcher knows, no studies exist
Another justification for selecting this Thisresearch topic was also selected because,
although a vast number of research had been conducted internationally ( Aubrey Dahl, 2008;
SMART Technologies, 2008; Somekh et al. 2007; Thomas-Brantley, 1988; Waite et al.,2006;
Zvoch, 2002) to investigate the relationships among the independent variables of this study
namely, gender, SEB, attitudes towards the interactive whiteboard (IWB), and the
addition, the researcher was unable to locate any local studies that had investigated the
relationships among the independent variables of this study and the performance of
Most of the existing research has been conducted on the relationships among
students’ , gender, SEB, attitudes towards mathematics, science and computermost recently
technology in education and their performance in math, science and technology education.
Research on the use of the IWB is still relatively young, but new researches are adding to
Although many studies are available on the effects of the IWB on students’ attitude,
gender, SEB and performance on mathematics, the researcher is unaware of any studies
done or published on the relationships among the attitudes towards the IWB, gender, and
researcher is also unaware of any studies that have been done that explored these variables
simultaneously. The results of some of this research have been conflicting. For example,
.Balanskat, Balmier and Kefala (2006) provided evidence from 17 studies on the impact of
the interactive whiteboard on teaching and learning. They cited instances of improvements
in students’ attitudes, performance and some relationships between these variables and
students’ SEB. However, they pointed out that some studies, while showing overall
improvements in students’ attitudes, did not report a corresponding gain in their academic
performance.
Miller (2006) showed that the use of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) initially
improved students’ attitudes but did not necessarily improve teaching and learning
especially in the teaching of mathematics. The most recent report for the Secondary
National Strategy in England suggested that many teachers tended not to use the interactive
capabilities of the whiteboard and that instead, they rely on presentation style
the board, on the desk to create an impact in the pupils head. If teachers continue to use the
IWBs like this, it would then become very similar to using a multimedia projector or
overhead because the main feature of the Whiteboard is that it is interactive; this is key for
engaging learners via the wider variety of modalities, namely visual, auditory and tactile.
researcher is of the opinion that it is not sufficient to show that there is a strong statistically
significant correlation between one independent variable and academic performance. One
must also investigate the relationships among several independent variables that are
interacting in a learning environment and academic performance. With this in mind, the
researcher sought studies that simultaneously investigated the relationships among students’
gender, SEB, attitudes towards the IWB, and students’ mathematics performance. The
researcher was unable to locate any local or international studies that explored these
variables simultaneously. In light of these facts, the researcher is of the opinion that it is
both beneficial and important to investigate how these factors are related to selected
It is hoped that the exploration of this aspect of the IWB will help to improve
students who have shown some degree of apathy towards education in the past few years.
Another reason is to fulfil the mandate of the Cayman Education Department, and by
extension the Caymans Island Government. Hence, one of the main justifications for this
study was to find out if the performance of Caymanian grade 10 students taught coordinate
geometry with the lecture method (which included the use of the overhead projector) and
IWB would be significantly better than that of their counterparts taught using only the
lecture method.
The objectives of the study were to find out if there are significant
(a) differences in the experimental and comparison group students’ (a) pretest and (b)
posttest attitudes to the use of the interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in teaching of maths;
(b) differences in the coordinate geometry (a) pretest and (b) posttest scores of the
(c) differences in the students’ posttest scores on the coordinate geometry test based on their
gender, socioeconomic background (SEB) treatment and posttest attitudes to the use of
(d) relationships among the students’ gender, SEB, treatment and posttest attitudes to the use
of the IWBs in the teaching of mathematics and their posttest performance on the
Research Questions
1. Are there any significant differences in the experimental and comparison group
students’ (a) pretest and (b) posttest attitudes to the use of the interactive whiteboards in
teaching of maths?
2. Are there any significant differences in the coordinate geometry (a) pretest and (b)
geometry test based on their gender, socioeconomic background (SEB) treatment and
4. Are there any significant relationships among the students’ gender, SEB, treatment and
posttest attitudes to the use of the whiteboards in the teaching of mathematics and their
1. make teachers and educators more aware of the extent to which there are statistically
significant relationships among the variables (gender, attitudes towards IWB, and SEB)
and the performance in coordinate geometry of grade 10 students in the Cayman Islands
or not;
2. make teachers better able to adapt their lesson to the needs of their students;
4. add to the body of information already in existence and provide a foundation for further
research on the topic especially in light of the fact that the researcher had not located any
Operational d
Interactive Whiteboard
Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are touch-sensitive new generation boards
giving them the functionality of a very large, but flat and rectangular
on the screens are projected onto the whiteboards and there are
special pens that the user may use to write digitally on the screen or interact
with materials as with a mouse. Some boards may allow the use of fingers.
They are also capable of capturing screen images and video. Special
features.
Mathematics performance
performance.
Gender
In this study, gender refers to the sex of the students attending the school
occupation, and education. In this study the SEB of the students was
This refers to the users’ general feelings to the use and interaction with IWB in
the teaching and learning process. For purposes of this study, students
were taught coordinate geometry using the IWB.They were allowed to not only to
view materials on the board but also to interact with it during lessons. Their