Educational Technology
F. Radmehr; H. Rahimian
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Previous studies in Iran have explored the impact of using technology on improving students’ mathematical understanding. However, no study was conducted in relation to the impact of using technology on students’ mathematical misconceptions. This study explored the ...
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Background and Objectives: Previous studies in Iran have explored the impact of using technology on improving students’ mathematical understanding. However, no study was conducted in relation to the impact of using technology on students’ mathematical misconceptions. This study explored the impact of using software in developing students’ misconceptions. In detail, the impact of using GeoGebra software on secondary school students’ misconceptions related to concepts such as angle scale, trigonometric angles, periodicity, minimum and maximum of trigonometric functions were explored using a two-tier diagnostic test. One of the novelties of this study is the use of a two-tier diagnostic test to explore misconceptions resulting from using the software. Methods: The statistical population of this study comprises all grade 11 students of Golbahar and Golmakan in the academic year 2015-2016. Three classes were chosen from two different schools in these cities, one was considered as the control group (40 students) and the other two classes were considered as the experimental group (26 students). The instruments were a pre-test and a post-test (two-tier diagnostic test). Four categories of misconceptions were identified based on the relevant literature and students’ responses to the pre-test. Finally, these misconceptions were analyzed by the chi-square test. Findings: The findings showed that Geogebra software helped students in the experimental group enormously in understanding concepts such as periodicity, identifying minimum and maximum of trigonometric functions, and prevented developing misconceptions related to them. Analyzing students’ responses in the control group that received traditional teaching showed that several students did not able to calculate the periodicity of trigonometric functions. This difficulty observed both when students calculated the periodicity from the graphs and also when calculated the periodicity from the algebraic form of trigonometric functions. The strength of using the software includes observing many trigonometric graphs in the software environment, the ability to place trigonometric functions with different input on a coordinate axis and comparing them, and the manipulations performed by the students themselves on trigonometric graphs. These strengths prevented students from developing misconceptions about the concepts of frequency and minimum and maximum values. However, in relation to trigonometric angles, using the software caused developing more misconceptions for the test group, and had no significant impact on preventing misconceptions in relation to the scale of angle. It seems due to the nature of the angle scale, in which the conversion from radians to degrees (or vice versa) is done by a series of mathematical operations, using Geogebra could not impact students’ misconceptions in this matter. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that teachers should be very cautious in selecting and using teaching aids in the classroom to prevent developing mathematical misconceptions associated with using the teaching aids. Therefore, we recommend mathematics education researchers and mathematics curriculum planners to conduct several studies on different softwares frequently used in mathematics classes, determine the pros and cons of these tools, and share their results with mathematics teachers. Sharing these results will help mathematics teachers to adapt their teaching accordingly based on the findings of these studies.
Electronic learning- virtual
H. Rangavar; S. khojaste Khosro
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of curriculum-based educational software (designing wood products) and practical workshop (technology of wood production) Wood and paper engineering technology - wooden structures industry with market needs of graduated people in this ...
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The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of curriculum-based educational software (designing wood products) and practical workshop (technology of wood production) Wood and paper engineering technology - wooden structures industry with market needs of graduated people in this field of study. The sample (100 participants) including under-graduate students (engineers) of Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University (SRTTU) were selected according to Cocral equation. A Questionnaire was distributed to gather data, based on Cronbach’s alpha, the reliability of the questionnaire turned out to be 0.875. The results showed that under-graduates believe that the course designing wood products, had significant impact on their career and market, so that the content of this course was the same with the new contents and the needs of industry. But technology production of wood product course (the curriculum-based one) that is based on making wooden products at the workshop showed little impact on the deployment of what they had learned in the industry. So there is a need for proper syllabus design in accordance with the needs of industry and codification as well as the equipment and facilities used in the education of industry and market for the teaching of this course.
Education technology - Evaluation and testing
A. Karami Gazafi; J. Younesi; A. Azizian
Abstract
: The purpose of this thesis is to compare the educational effectiveness of Chemistry laboratory in second grade of high school by using the educational software and traditional method . The independent variable was teaching method and the dependent variables were attitude and knowledge. The study has ...
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: The purpose of this thesis is to compare the educational effectiveness of Chemistry laboratory in second grade of high school by using the educational software and traditional method . The independent variable was teaching method and the dependent variables were attitude and knowledge. The study has been carried out using a semi-experimental method. The samples were randomly selected from high schools in Ilam city. In each school, two classes were randomly selected; one class was selected as experimental group and the other as the control group. For the former, a pre-test was done which indicated that there was no significant difference between two groups in attitude and knowledge level. Two-dimensional diagram of content–purpose related to the items of attitude questionnaire and knowledge test were presented to professors’ and experts in order to obtain the validity of the instruments. The reliability measurement of learning achievement was α= 0.71 and for the attitude questionnaire was α=0.88. According to the research procedure, the control group did the experiment in the traditional laboratory using chemical substances laboratory tools, and the experimental group did the same experiment using educational software in the computer site. Using the analysis of covariance for post-test, it was determined that the control group had more educational achievement than the experimental one, but the experimental group had more positive attitude to computer and chemistry laboratory than the control group. There were significant differences between two groups in three parts of attitude including: emotional, cognitive and behavioral.
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