Effects of Computer Animations on Students' Geometrical Mathematics Misconceptions in Secondary Schools, Kitui County, Kenya

Simon Warui Mwangi(1*), Bernard Nyingi Githua(2), Johnson M. Changeiywo(3),

(1) St. Peter's Thange Boys
(2) Egerton University
(3) Egerton University
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


Children come across mathematics before they start schooling. From infancy to secondary, they develop mathematical concept formation skills and hold misconceptions. Learning mathematics concepts is spiral in nature, with one level affecting later learning.  Poor performance in mathematics is traceable back to Mathematics Misconceptions held by students at an early age. Animations has been used in Symmetry and Matrices with a remarkable reduction of students’ misconceptions. Their use in photoelectric effect in physics signifipppppcantly reduced students’ misconceptions. This study inquired into the effects of computer animations on geometrical misconceptions. The constructivist theory of learning guided the study where prior knowledge in geometry was used to build geometrical concepts from day-to-day life experiences.  The study employed Solomon-Four Group Design with experimental and control categories having two groups each. The four groups for the study were purposively chosen. 112 boys and 95 girls participated in the research. MAT (Mathematics Achievement Test) adopted from past KCSE (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education) questions were used to find the misconceptions held by students. The instrument was pilot-tested and resulted in a reliability coefficient of 0.8826 using the KR-20 formula. Pre-testing was done to the control and an experimental group before intervention, and all the four groups sat for a Post-test. ANOVA and t-test were applied in the testing of the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of confidence. With the use of Animation, a reduction of students’ mathematical misconceptions was observed. The performance of boys and girls after exposure to animations were noted to be significantly the same. The findings may help stakeholders in Mathematics Education.

Keywords


Concepts; Misconceptions; Students; Computer; Animation

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adom, D., & Emad, K. H. (2018) And Conceptual Framework: Mandatory Ingredients of a Quality Research. International Journal of Scientific Research, Volume-7 | Issue-1 | January-2018 | Issn No 2277 - 8179

Ahmed, S. A., Tariq, M. K. &Tahseen, M. A. (2012). The Disparity in Misconceptions about the Concept of Solution at Secondary Level Students in Pakistan. Journal of Elementary Education Vol.22, No. 1 pp.65-79

Ajai, J.T. & Imoko, I.I. (2015). Gender differences in mathematics achievement and retention scores: A case of problem-based learning method. International Journal of Research in Education and Science (IJRES), 1(1), 45- 50.

Akhilesh P.T. (2014) “Identification of misconceptions in physics and testing of the effectiveness of certain instructional programs on remediation of the misconceptions among VIII standard students in Kerala†Thesis. Department of Education, University of Calicut, 2014.

Allen, G. D. (2007). Student Thinking: Misconceptions in mathematics Texas A & M University-College Station, TX 77843-3368.

Anderson, J. R., &Skwarecki, E. (1986). The automated tutoring of introductory computer programming. Communications of the ACM, 29, 842-849.

Asiamah, N., Mensah, H. K., & Oteng-Abayie, E. (2017). General, Target, and Accessible Population: Demystifying the Concepts for Effective Sampling. The Qualitative Report, 22(6), 1607-1621. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol22/iss6/9

Asyura, A. N., Nur, H. M. A., Salimah, A, Nor H. T, & Aminatul, S. I. (2017). The mathematical misconception in calculus 1: Identification and gender difference. AIP Conference Proceedings 1870, 070001 (2017).

Booth, J.L., Koedinger, K.R., & Siegler, R.S. (2007). The effect of prior conceptual knowledge on procedural performance and learning in algebra. In D.S. McNamara & J.G. Trafton (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Annual Cognitive Science Society. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.

Bruner, J. S. 1986. Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Cheng-Fei, L. (2012). Error Analysis in Mathematics. Technical Report # 1012 University of Oregon, Behavioral Research and Teaching.

Cirillo, M and Hummer, J (2019). EPTIONS in Secondary Geometry Proof. Use these ideas to diagnose and address common conceptual obstacles that inhibit students’ success. MATHEMATICS TEACHER | Vol. 112, No. 6 • April 2019 pp 410 - 417

Cohen, D. (1972). "Is the earth flat or hollow?" Science Digest, Nov. 1972, p. 62-66.

Croark, C. J, Mehaffie, K. E, McCall, R. B &Greenberg, M.T., (2007). Evidence-Based Practices and Programs for early childhood. United Kingdom: Sage.

Daymude, K., (2010). Test Error Analysis in Mathematics Education: A Mixed-Method Study. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis in Mathematics Education of University of ATHENS, GEORGIA

Dowker, A.D (2005). Early identification and intervention for students with mathematics difficulties. University of Oxford, Vol. 38, No 4 July/August 2005, 324 – 332.

Driver, R. (1989). Changing conception in adolescent development and school science. London: Falmer Press

Erylmaz, A. (2002). Effects of Conceptual Assignments and Conceptual Change Discussion on Students' Misconceptions and Achievement Regarding Force and Motion. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(10), 1001-1015.

Grant, C. &Osanloo, A. (2014). Understanding, Selecting, and Integrating a Theoretical Framework in Dissertation Research: Creating the Blueprint for ‘House’. Administrative Issues Journal: Connecting Education, Practice and Research, Pp. 12-22 DOI: 10.5929/2014.4.2.9

Greenland, S., Senn, S. J., Rothman, K.J., Carlin, J.B., Poole, C., Goodman, S.N., and Altman, D.G. (2016). Statistical tests, P values, confidence intervals, and power: a guide to misinterpretations. Eur J Epidemiol (2016) 31:337–350 DOI 10.1007/s10654-016-0149-3

Hestenes D. & Wells M. (1992). A Mechanics Baseline Test. The Physics Teacher, 30, 159-162.

Hung, D. &Khine, M.S (2006). Engaged learning with Emerging Technologies. Springer, Dordrecht.

Hwang, E. J and Sim, I. O (2019). Effect of a Comprehensive Health Care Program on Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, Body Composition, and Depression in Older Adults Living Alone: A Quasi-Experimental Pretest–Posttest Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Pg. 1-10.

Joel, D., Berman, Z., Tavor, I., Wexler, N., Gaber, O., Stein, Y., & Margulies, D. S. (2015). Sex beyond the genitalia: The human brain mosaic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112 (50), 15468–15473.

KCEO, (2015). Kitui County Education Office: -Kitui County TSC-Staff Return for August 2015, KCEO Kitui.

KCEO, (2017). Kitui County Education Office; - Kitui County TSC-Staff Return for March 2017, KCEO Kitui.

KIE, (2002). Secondary Education Syllabus Vol.2.Nairobi: KIE.

KNEC, (Kenya National Examination Council) (2013). The KCSE Examination Report, Nairobi: KNEC.

Liang, G., Fu, W. and Wang, K (2019). Analysis of t-test misuses and SPSS operations in medical research papers. Burns & Trauma, Volume 7, 2019, s41038-019-0170-3, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41038-019-0170-3

Maguire, T. J. (2012), "Investigation of the Misconceptions Related to the Concepts of Equivalence and Literal Symbols Held by Underprepared Community College Students". Doctoral Dissertations. 40.

Maloney, David P., (1994). Research on Problem Solving: Physics. In Gabel, Dorothy L. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning, New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.

MoEST (2005). Education sector report. Nairobi: Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology.

Mona, B., Malik, A and Meenu, D (2013). FORMAL METHODS: BENEFITS, CHALLENGES AND FUTURE DIRECTION. Journal of Global Research in Computer Science. Volume 4, No. 5, pp 21-25

Muhammad, I. (2015) art of Data Analysis. Journal of Allied Health Sciences Pakistan. Pp 98-104

Omwirhiren, E. M and Ubanwa, A. O (2016). An Analysis of Misconceptions in Organic Chemistry Among Selected Senior Secondary School Students in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 4 No. 7 July 2016 247.

Özcan, H., Çetin, G. H., and Koştur, I (2020). The Effect of PhET Simulation-based Instruction on 6th Grade Students’ Achievement Regarding the Concept of Greenhouse Gas. Science Education International 31(4), 348-355 https://doi.org/10.33828/sei.v31.i4.3

Passey, D. (2020). Theories, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, models and constructs: Limiting research outcomes through misconceptions and misunderstandings. Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.56810a1a

Piaget, J. (1970). Structuralism. New York: Basic Books.

Ritu, B. (2013). A study of errors and misconceptions in mathematics at the elementary school stage. Intentional Journal of Informative and Futuristic Research (IJIFR). ISSN (Online):2347-1697 Volume 1 Issue 1, (1-7)

Russel, M, O’Dwyer, L.M., Miranda, H. (2009), "Diagnosing Students’ Misconceptions in Algebra: Results from an Experimental Pilot Study." Behavior Research Methods, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 414-424, 2009.

Sarwadi, H.R. H and Masitah, S (2014). Understanding Students' Mathematical Errors and Misconceptions: The Case of Year 11 Repeating Students. Mathematics Education Trends and Research 1-10.

Seltman, H.J. (2018). Experimental Design and Analysis. E-book on the world wide web at http://www.stat.cmu.edu/~hseltman/309/Book/Book.pdf accessed on 5/04/2021

Soeharto, Csapó, B., Sarimanah, E., Dewi, F. I., Sabri, T. (2019). REVIEW OF STUDENTS’ COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE AND THEIR DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT TOOLS. Jurnal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia, JPII 8 (2) (2019) 247-266 http://journal.unnes.ac.id/index.php/jpii

Thekla, M., Gustafsson, M.S., Lindqvist, A., Renstrom, E. A., Ryan, M. K., and Morton, T. A. (2020). Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure. Social Psychological and Personality Science 1-10. sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1948550620937188. journals.sagepub.com/home/spp

Verniers, C. and Vala, J (2018) Justifying gender discrimination in the workplace: The mediating role of motherhood myths. PLoS ONE 13(1): e0190657. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190657 pmid:29315326

Zhou, Y and Skidmore, T.S. (2017). Reassessment of ANOVA Reporting Practices: Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences, Vol. 8, No. 1, 3-19, 2017 3 A




DOI: https://doi.org/10.31327/jme.v6i2.1661

Article Metrics

Abstract view : 566 times
PDF - 252 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Simon Warui Mwangi, Bernard Nyingi Githua, Johnson M. Changeiywo


INDEXING DATABASE