RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

and complex situations. The study of mathematics equips students with

knowledge, and habits of mind that are essential for successful and rewarding

participation in such a society.

According to (Sidhu, 2010), all people thought that mathematics is a

very difficult subject to understand. I have a phobia of mathematics and they

thought that mathematics is a boring subject. In most of the schools, teachers’

teaching style is only lecture method which makes students be bored to learn

Mathematics. If teachers apply different methods then students will take

interest in Mathematics.

Mathematics relies on both logic and creativity, and it is pursued both

for a variety of practical purposes and for its intrinsic interest. “Mathematics is

a word of symbols and their interrelation. It is also known as science which is

related to measurements, calculation, discovering relationship. Mathematics is

systematized, organized and exact branch of science. It has its own language

and characteristics. It is the numerical and calculation part of man’s life and

knowledge. It is a science of logical reasoning and numerical problems. It

deals with quantitative facts and relationship as well as problems involving

space and form.”(Sidhu, 2010)

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Paper Folding as a Teaching Tool

Origami is not a common practice in the mathematics classroom. There

is little argument that mathematics educators have used origami in a variety of

ways for instruction; there is a surprising lack of research investigating such

claims (Boakes, 2009).

To determine how the instruction of origami would impact student

spatial visualization and the student’s learning of geometry, a study was

conducted within a middle school teacher’s mathematics classes. One group

of children received their normal geometry instruction based on the teacher’s

set curriculum while the other received the same instruction in addition to what

has been termed “Origami Mathematics Lessons” (Boakes, 2010). A month

long unit in geometry served as the time frame with Origami-mathematics

lessons infused regularly within the teacher’s instruction. To determine how

the students’ were impacted by the instruction pre- and post-tests to assess

both spatial visualization abilities and mathematics achievement were used.

Results from this study revealed both methods of instruction to be equally

beneficial in terms of mathematical ability (Boakes, 2009). As far as spatial

ability, while students showed similar gains in the area of blended visualization

(both two- and three-dimensional), there was evidence that males and females

differed in how origami affected their two-dimensional manipulation skills.

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Adjusted gains in scores showed males experiencing origami perform

better than males with only traditional instruction. In contrast, females reached
 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

higher gains with traditional instruction while those experiencing origami gains

were reduced. Though it cannot be said for certain why this was the case,

factors contributing to this result may have included: students’ visual-spatial

experiences outside of school such as video games; differences in the

students’ confidence, males often more confident than their female

counterparts; and the type of assessment tool selected with the test in this

case shown to favor males more often than females (Boakes, 2011). Even

with the slight differences shown among genders, students seemed to benefit

from the change in instruction as a whole. Thus, this study lends support to

the many claims that origami is a beneficial method of instruction.

Hands-on activities and concrete materials, such as tangram, might

help middle school students’ to gain better understanding in geometry topics

(Hacıömeroğlu] [&] [Apaydın, 2009; Topbaş-Tat &] [Bulut, 2012). Origami

could be interpreted as such an activity in which students’ conceptual

understanding in mathematics could be enhanced. Origami is generally

defined as the art of paper folding. It is possible to make different origami

models such as animals, flowers, polyhedral models through folding the paper.

Although origami has not originated as an educational instrument, in the

advancing years, this ‘… ancient recreational art has come to the aid of

mathematicians’. Because of the mathematically beneficial uses of origami, it

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started to be used in mathematics education in various ways and grade levels.

For instance, a simple origami model, origami box, has been studied from
 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

different aspects in the literature. The folding process of an origami box can be

used in elementary mathematics education to teach polygons, angles,

bisections, and symmetries (Cornelius &Tubis, 2009). Furthermore, in the

higher grades, for example in middle school, origami box can be used in more

complex mathematics topics.

The use of origami in mathematics education is not restricted to origami

box model, there are also various origami models studied in the literature. For

instance, in the study of Cipoletti and Wilson (2010), it is exemplified how

origami pinwheel might be used to promote geometry knowledge and

mathematical vocabulary of students. In another study, Hartzler (2009)

mentioned how origami balloons might be used to exemplify the ratio

relationships of similar solids. As exemplified with these studies in the

literature, even simple origami models can be rich source for mathematics

lessons in various topics and grade levels (Frigerio, 2009; Golan, 2011).

Apart from the mathematical benefits of origami for students, it is highly

mentioned that students and also teachers have fun while doing paper folding

activities in math classes (Boakes, 2009; Cipoletti& Wilson, 20011; Fiol,

Dasquens, &Prat, 2011; Higginson &Colgan, 2011). However, as Georgeson

(2011) stated ‘Paper folding is fun but where is the math?’ (p. 354). If the

teacher does not build a connection between origami and mathematics, using
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origami in mathematics education would be nothing more than an enjoyable

activity (Georgeson, 2011). To build the connection between origami and

 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

mathematics, the teacher needs to be prepared for such kind of an instruction

(Cipoletti] [& Wilson, 2010). (Çakmak, Işıksal, and Koç, 2014) investigated

how origami-based mathematics instruction affects elementary students’

spatial ability, and they found that origami-based mathematics instruction

significantly increased students’ spatial ability scores. In another study, it was

stated that using origami activities in geometry lessons improved high school

students’ achievement in geometry (Arıcı&Aslan-Tutak, 2015).

Knowledge on what to do in origami-based mathematics instruction is

crucial to implement origami activities effectively in mathematics lessons, and

origami courses in mathematics teacher education programs or in-service

training programs are promising to gain this knowledge. However, knowledge

is not the only condition on the effective use of origami in mathematics

lessons. Instructor’s self-related beliefs work as a bridge between the

knowledge and action. Among self-related beliefs, Bandura (2010) put special

emphasis on self-efficacy beliefs in order to understand and predict behavior

since these beliefs might have an important effect on future performances. In

line with this point, it is possible to claim that in addition to instructors’

knowledge, their self-efficacy beliefs might be highly important for the effective

use of origami in mathematics education. Therefore, clarifying what self-

efficacy beliefs mean, and why it is important in the context of using origami in
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mathematics education would be beneficial.

 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Self-efficacy beliefs are defined as ‘beliefs in one's capabilities to

organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given

attainments’. Self-efficacy beliefs affect the choice of behavior, and thus,

people with low efficacy beliefs about a particular task tend to avoid engaging

in that task, but on the other hand, people who feel highly efficacious about

the task, tend to do that behavior. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship

between one’s self-efficacy beliefs about particular task and how much she

puts effort on doing that behavior. Therefore, one who has stronger self-

efficacy beliefs would probably put more effort when compared with the ones

who have low self-efficacy beliefs (Pendergast, Garvis, & Keogh, 2011;

Tschannen-Moran). Apart from the effect of self-efficacy beliefs on the effort

expenditure while doing that behavior, it also affects how persistent one is

when doing that behavior (Wang, Hall, &Rahimi, 2015). People with high self-

efficacy beliefs are more persistent while doing a particular task, and if they

fail, they strengthen and sustain their exertion (Bandura, 2009). When the

possible effects of self-efficacy beliefs are interpreted in the context of using

origami in mathematics education, teachers and/or teacher candidates who

have strong self-efficacy beliefs on the use of origami in mathematics

education would prefer and put more effort to use origami in mathematics

lessons. On the other hand, teachers and/or teacher candidates who have low
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self-efficacy beliefs on this issue would not prefer to implement origami-related

 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

activities in mathematics lessons. Even if they use and face with difficulties in

these activities, they would probably give up implementing these activities.

In brief, it is possible to claim that there is an increasing attention on the

use of origami in mathematics education because of its mathematically

beneficial uses. In line with this point, there are attempts in some countries in

order to train pre-service or in-service teachers on the effective use of origami

in mathematics education. However, there is very limited research studies

conducted with pre-service or in-service teachers. More specifically, in the

accessible literature, there is no measuring instrument that was developed to

measure pre-service or in-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs regarding origami.

When the focus is teacher and teacher candidates, investigating their self-

efficacy beliefs would yield educational benefits in terms of understanding their

teaching decisions.

Using Origami to Enhance and Retain Geometric Reasoning and

Achievement

Reasoning, proving, creativity and problem solving are involved in high

school geometry curriculum. These skills are expected to be developed

through effective geometry instruction. For an effective geometry instruction, a

closer look into the geometry learning may be necessary. Three theoretical
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frameworks may give insights in understanding geometry learning of students.

Duval (2010) argues that geometric thinking combines three cognitive

 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

processes which are visualization, construction, and reasoning. Visualization

is keystone for geometry instruction since students should be able to identify

geometric figures in different dimensions in order to reach conclusions about

geometric entities. Duval’s (2008) cognitive processes formed the mainstay of

the test design of I study. Besides, Smith (2010) asserts that geometric

thinking is based on proving, justifying, and argumentation. Smith’s (2010)

categorization of geometric thinking was used in preparing the scoring rubric

of the Geometric Reasoning Test (GRT). Furthermore, as a developmental

model on geometric thinking, the Van Hiele theory states that geometric

thinking progresses in hierarchical stages. Van Hiele stages were considered

in the design of the instruction of the existing study. These three theoretical

frameworks all agree on the use of manipulative materials in teaching

geometry for effective learning of abstract concepts and relationships. The use

of manipulatives in teaching geometry and mathematics is also suggested in

the literature (e.g. Dorier, Gutiérrez, &Strasser, 2008; Sriraman& English,

2005). Manipulatives can be useful in facilitating students’ progression to

higher levels of geometric thinking. Thus, origami, the art of paper folding can

be used in teaching geometry considering its manipulative nature.

Inability of students to retain what they have learnt, has been pointed

out as one of the contributing factors to students’ poor achievement in

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mathematics. Retention is the ability to remember things. Among the attributes

of retention that are closely related to success, are the power to recall (i.e.,
 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

memory) and to recognize (Ogbonna, 2010). Memory is the capacity to retain

an impression of the past experiences. Memory, according to Ogbonna

(2009), is classified based on duration, nature and retrieval of perceived items.

Iji (2011), asserted that man is endowed with limited capacity for memorization

and to correctly and effectively use or apply whatever one has learnt, retention

must come to play an important role.

Through the actual folding, children use their hands to follow a specific

set of steps in sequence, producing a visible result that is at once clever and

pleasing. The steps must be performed in a prescribed order to yield a

successful outcome - an important lesson not only in math, but in life. Piaget,

the renowned child development psychologist, held that "motor activity in the

form of skilled movements is vital to the development of intuitive thought and

the mental representation of space."

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

whether it is traditional strategy or the one that uses intervention which is

paper folding.

Description of Respondents

The researchers conducted a diagnostic test in the sections of Grade 7

at Mataas na Paaralang Neptali A. Gonzales (MPNAG), which comprises of

approximately 120 students for whom the proponents will choose 60

respondents. The researchers conducted a passive data collection (PDC) in

order to learn about the inherent properties of a process. These types of

studies are usually for comparison purposes for which it wishes to compare

properties of processes against each other or against some hypothesis.

Table 1

Distribution of the Grade 7 respondents by section

Group/Section F %

Controlled Group 30 50

Experimental Group 30 50

Total: 60 100

Research Instrument Used

The following instruments are used by the researchers:

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1. Teaching Guide. The researchers provided a set of Teaching Guide

which can be used to guide the facilitator in demonstrating the activity.

 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

The teaching guide is comprised of following topics: (1) Operations on

Fraction, (2) Angle Measurement, and (3) Regular Polygon.

2. Attitudinairre. The researchers used this questionnaire to find out

students’ attitude towards learning Mathematics. This is a 47- item

close-ended questionnaire adapted from Modified Fennema-Sherman

Attitude Scales (Doepken, Lawsky et al., 2008) to determine the

students’ attitudes toward learning mathematics after using the origami.

3. Teacher-Made Test. The researchers used teacher-made test to

develop and assessed how much changed is occur among the two

groups. The test has 30 items and covers the identified topics by the

researchers.

Data Gathering Procedure

1. The researchers produced hand-outs for the involved respondents in

experimental group in order to let them be familiarized with the

techniques. The proponents introduced the instructional material then

let the students learn or review the concepts in polygon and angle

measurements through their authentic task. The researchers will

became facilitator of learning to assess the students thru observation.

2. The proponents asked the students for the written feedback, to reliably
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assess the opinion and perception about the instructional material and
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their attitude towards mathematics. This will be done through

researcher-made questionnaires and modified questionnaires with a 5

point Likert scale.

3. The instructional material will be assessed and evaluate by the Math

Teachers to criticize if it is effective for the Grade 7 students.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The data gathered from Sixty (60) respondents were analyzed and

presented in tabular form. The proper analysis of data and using the following

statistical tools were apply in the study

Percentage. The researchers used this statistical treatment to

determine the part of a whole in the description of respondents.

Formula

F
P= × 100 %
N

Where,

P = Percentage

F = Frequency of the respondents

N = Number of respondents

100% = is a constant

1. Weighted Mean. The researchers used weighted mean in a situation

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where different population groups are contributing to an overall

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average. Weighted average method is a method of computing a kind of

arithmetic mean of a set of numbers in which some elements of the set

carry weight than others. An average in which each quantity to be

averaged is assigned a weight. Weighted average is an average

computed by giving different weights to some of the individual values.

f 1 x 1 +f 2 x 2+ f 3 x3 + …+f n x n
WM=
N

Where: WM = the weighted mean

f i x i = frequency times its weight in the i th term

N = total number of observations

2. 4-Point Likert Scale. The researchers used this scale to measure and

validate the teaching guide and to determine the students’ attitudes

towards learning Mathematics.

For the validation of the teaching guide:

Scale Range Verbal Interpretation Symbol

4 3.50 – 4.00 Very Satisfactory VS
3 2.50 – 3.49 Satisfactory S
2 1.50 – 2.49 Poor P
1 1.00 – 1.49 Not Satisfactory NS
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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

For the students’ attitudes towards learning Mathematics:

Positive Statements

Scale Range Verbal Interpretation Symbol

4 3.50 – 4.00 Strongly Agree SA
3 2.50 – 3.49 Agree A
2 1.50 – 2.49 Disagree D
1 1.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree SDA

Negative Statements of Attitude

Scale Range Verbal Interpretation Symbol

1 1.00 – 1.49 Strongly Agree SA
2 1.50 – 2.49 Agree A
3 2.50 – 3.49 Disagree D
4 3.50 – 4.00 Strongly Disagree SDA

3. Paired-Sample T-test. The researchers used this test to compare the

pre-test and post-test of the respondents of controlled and experimental

group before and after the treatment.

∑d
N

√
t=
2
( ∑ d)
∑d − N
2

N (N−1)

Where: t – value
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d – Difference between matched scores

 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

N – Number pairs of scores

∑ −¿ ¿Summation
4. Mean Percentage Score. The researchers used this to determine the

achievement level of the students.

x
MPS = ̅ x 100
N

Where: MPS – Mean Percentages Score

N – Total number of items

x̅ - Mean

Achievement Level
Percentag
Descriptive Equivalent Symbol
e
96 – 100 Mastered M
Closely Approximately
86 – 95 CAM
Mastered
66 – 85 Moving Towards Mastery MTM
35 – 65 Average Mastery AM
16 – 34 Low Mastery LM
5 – 15 Very Low Mastery VLM
0–4 Absolutely No Mastery ANM

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