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A study on students' motivation in learning mathematics using multimedia

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Conference Paper · July 2010

DOI: 10.1109/ITSIM.2010.5561319 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 A Study on Students’ Motivation in Learning
Mathematics using Multimedia Courseware
Zuraini Hanim Zaini, Wan Fatimah Wan Ahmad
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Perak, Malaysia
zurainihanim@gmail.com, fatimhd@petronas.com.my
Abstract— The paper presents a study on students’ motivation
towards learning mathematics using multimedia courseware. on
the topic of Loci in Two Dimensions. An early analysis was
conducted using interview and survey. The courseware used in
the early analysis was based on the courseware supplied by the
Ministry of Education for form two. The survey questions which
were based on Instrument Material Motivation Survey (IMMS)
have been distributed to investigate the weaknesses of the
courseware in terms of motivation. 30 respondents from a school
in Perak were involved in the study. The result shows that the
students perceived low motivation towards the current
courseware.
Keywords- Mathematics; Multimedia Courseware; Loci in Two
Dimension; motivation
I. INTRODUCTION
With the emergence of the development in the information
and communication technology (ICT), multimedia has been
greatly adopted into the field of education. “Audio, video and
animation are integrated with instruction in order to create a
more interesting, supportive and learning-conducive
environment” [1].
Mathematic is a subject that requires students to memorize
the formulae and visualize the pictures in order to understand
the theory. In today‘s classroom scenario, teacher prefer
computer – based technology to teach mathematics when
teaching [2].
The objective of this paper is to conduct a study on the
students’ motivation in learning mathematics using
multimedia mathematic courseware which focused on the topic
of loci in two dimensions. It also aimed to identify several
alternatives to improve the performance of multimedia
courseware in increasing the student’s motivation toward
learning mathematics.
This paper is to present the result of an early analysis on
students’ motivation towards learning mathematics using
multimedia courseware. This paper is organized into several
sections. Previous researches and case study were discussed in
section two. Section three explains the research problem that
lead to the study. Section four describes the methodology for
this study while section five shows the survey result and
analysis. Lastly, the conclusion and discussion on further
research are explained in section six
978-1-4244-6716-7/10/$26.00(c) 2010 IEEE
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Mathematics can be considered as a challenging subject.
The learning of mathematics involves understanding the
theories and visualizing pictures for applying the formulae. In
the typical classroom the challenge for the student is to explore
the complex problem. With the advancement of multimedia
technology, the difficulty can be conquered [3].
Parallel with the advancement in information and
communication technology in education system, technology is
increasingly becoming a critical component for learning
mathematic courses. Numerous studies over the years have
shown that interactive multimedia learning takes less time, is
more enjoyable and increase in learning. Yuan [4] studied on
the effect of integrating technology into instruction on
students’ mathematic achievement and attitude toward
mathematic. The result showed that integrating technology into
mathematic can promote student attitude on the positive
direction towards mathematics.
A research by Ahmad Fauzi et al. [5] studied on the
effectiveness of the Teaching and Mastering Calculus
Computer Courseware (TEMACCC) based on the achievement
of students in Calculus. The study involved the low achiever
students. The achievement test is based on the score that every
student achieved at the end of the experiment. The findings of
this study showed that students who were exposed to
TEMACCC package performed better than students in the
other groups.
Janier et al. [6] investigated and compared the effect of
multimedia courseware and traditional instruction as an
alternative tool for tutoring application of integration. The
samples were 50 engineering students. They were divided into
two groups which are group A and group B. Traditional
method (chalk and board) was used by Group B as the control
group and courseware was used by Group A as the
experimental group. A pre and posttests were given to
determine the effects of using courseware versus traditional
instruction. Report showed that the students in the
experimental group scored significantly higher on the posttest
than control group. The students can also do independent study
using the courseware during tutorial session.
According to Bushro and Halimah [3] multimedia can
facilitate in learning mathematics in different types of
presentation that suit to different types of intelligent. The use of independent learning skills. This process engages
Multiple Intelligent in multimedia mathematics environment students in their learning and developing self-esteem
way enable individual as it can cater to the premise that the
different type of intelligences required a different mode of IV. METHODOLOGY
instructional approach. This research deploys a survey method in investigating the
Learning mathematics using technology will benefit the motivation level of the students toward learning the Loci in
students and instructors tremendously. Students will be able to Two Dimension. The questionnaire was adapted from the
understand the topics easily and have the stand-by tutor Instructional Material Motivation Survey (IMMS) developed
available as long as they can use the computer [7]. by John Keller [10]. The population of this study comprises of
teachers who teach the form two Mathematics and 30 (17
In another research conducted by Wan Fatimah et al. [8] females and 13 males) students of form two from Sekolah
found that it hard for students to visualize on how the Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Iskandar, Perak.
mathematics concepts and theories are working in reality. In
certain cases, they just memorize the theories and formulae. The survey was divided into two sessions where the first
session was one hour learning session using the mathematic
A strong correlation between attitude and mathematics courseware and the second session was 30 minutes answering
achievement has been found in many studies Yushau [9] survey. The courseware used in this study was mathematic
claimed that Students that have positive attitude toward courseware for form two supplied by the Ministry of
mathematics tend to perform well in the subject, while students Education. Each student was allocated to one computer to learn
that have negative attitude toward mathematics tend to perform independently. At the end of the session, a test was conducted
badly. to measure their understanding on the topic.
Other than that, the conventional method in teaching The survey form comprises of 35 items. The students were
mathematic is time consuming where the teachers have to asked to indicate their level of agreement and disagreement
spend a lot of time in sketching rather than focusing on the with several statements using a five-point Likert scale ranging
application and problem solving [2]. from “1 = strongly disagree” to “5 = strongly agree”. The
survey session was conducted by the teacher and the researcher
III. RESEARCH PROBLEM acted as an observer. In the early of the session, the teacher
Based on an early analysis from an earlier interview with explains the instruction that the students need to follow.
the mathematics teacher for form two, several problems have The data gathered was later analyzed using the Predictive
been identified. Analytics Software. Descriptive Statistics were computed.
• Student faces difficulty in understanding the concept of
loci in two dimension topics since they need to V. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
understand the theories and rememorize the formula. The IMMS questionnaire was divided into four different
contracts which are confident, attention, satisfaction and
• Motivation problem among the low achiever students. relevance. The descriptive statistics such as maximum,
The difficulty in understanding the topic may cause the minimum, means, standard deviations and variance were
students to become less motivated in learning that obtained for the interval scaled independent and dependent
topic. variables. The results of the questionnaire are depicted in Table
• Many teachers have the difficulty in accessing the ICT I.
tools in teaching the mathematics in the class. It is TABLE I. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTIC
because they need to book the multimedia room in Std
order to use the computer and projector. Usually, Construct Min Max Mean Deviation Variance
teachers preferred to teach using chalk and board Confident 1.20 2.20 1.45 0.23 0.05
method. Attention 1.33 2.16 1.72 0.19 0.04
• Other problems mentioned by the respondents Satisfaction 1.16 2.33 1.69 0.28 0.08
interviewed were related the use of English in the Relevance 2.00 2.63 2.32 0.21 0.04
classroom. Moreover the textbook was claimed to be Overall 1.67 2.14 1.87 0.13 0.02
not very useful especially for LEP (Low English
Proficiency) students as it is too brief with inadequate
examples and descriptions. The multimedia courseware All items for each variable were measured on the 5 point
also was not to be suitable for LEP students, as they scale and its average computed to evaluate each criterion as a
were not able to understand the language used in whole. Based on the table Overall the mean score for IMMS
delivery the content instrument was 1.87 (low motivation) when measured against 5
• The existed courseware that was provided by the points scale. The highest mean score is on the relevance aspect
Ministry of Education is for the teachers references. which is 2.32 and the lowest means score is on the confident
Students also need their own courseware which they aspect which is 1.45.
can learn using the courseware at their own time and The findings from the survey proved that the existed
pace. It also provides a platform for developing courseware does not improve motivation successfully. This
was further supported by the comments given by the students:
they want a courseware that can create fun leaning
environment and assist them in understanding the important
mathematics concept especially regarding the topics of Loci in
Two Dimension.
The results of this study imply that students have shown
low motivation level in studying mathematics in particular in
Loci in Two Dimension. The similar results in learning
mathematics have been shown in [5]. This shows that
Integrating multimedia in learning mathematics need to focus
on the designing mathematics activities which will motivate
student learning.
VI. CONCLUSION AND FURTHER WORK
Learning mathematics using multimedia technology is
essential in today’s education. This paper has shown that an
improvement on the current mathematic courseware is
necessary. Results obtained have shown the current courseware
do not enhance the student’s motivation. As future work,
several possible solutions can be applied on the multimedia
courseware that can improve student motivation toward
learning mathematics using technology based learning
environment such embed the courseware with Pedagogical
Agent (PA).
REFERENCES
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the 3rd International Malaysia Educational Technology Convention
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