A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN VARIED TEACHING APPROACHES ON ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION OF STUDENTS OF MATHEMATICS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare and delennine the more effective approach by use of Infonnation and Communication Technology (lCT) on achievement and retention of secondary school students of mathematics in Pakistan. The three approaches used fOf this study were, the Computer Based Instruction (CBl). Computer Bascd Learning (CBL). and Teacher Centered (TC) approach. The research design was the posttesl-only control group design. Seventeen research questions were put in the study. Sample of the study were 63 students alld was heterogeneous to provide representation aeross ability level and gender. The achievement and retention instruments were in the IQnn of researcher's made posHest and the delayed-postlest. The CRI and COL boys and girls studems (taught separately) were grouped as treatment groups whereas the TC boys and girls students were grouped as reference group. The same topic mathematics, "Concept of Matrices" was taught to all three groups. The CBI groups were taught through software - Educational Program of Gifted Youth (EPGY), developed by Stanford University, USA. These groups were also supported by lectures, drill, and practice and self-assessment opportunities. The CBL groups used the EPGY software and in addition they made use of all possible resources of information and communication technology; internet, c-mail, chaHing and on-line help. The TC groups were taught through traditional teaching techniques. Two-way analysis of Covariance (ANCQVA) procedure from SPSS program wa~ adapted for the analysis of data of the study. Significant levels of all research hypothesis tested in this study were at the 0.05 levels, There was no significant difference among score oflhe students taught mathematics through CBI, CBL and xiv approaches on achievement. The main effects of the groups and ability did no! meet the 0.05 level of significance. However, the main effects comparison of gender was slgnmcruliat 0.047. There was a significant difference among the group's retention of the students taught mathematics through eBJ, eBL and approaches. The main effect of the ability did meet the 0.05 level of significance on delayed-postlest. The main effect comparison of groups was also significant at 0.023. However, the main effect for group reach statistical significance on delayed-post test. Post-hoc comparison using the Tukey HSD test indicated that the means score of delayed- posUcst for the CBL group was significantly different from the TC group, The CBI group did not differ significantly from either of the eBL or TC groups, It was found that the CBL group had significantly scored higher in achieving as well as in retaining the content of mathematics taught to them during the experiment. The below average students retained significantly more than the average and above average students. The girls students overall scored considerably higher than the boys in delayed-posttest. It was concluded that the use of CSL approach in leaching of mathematics at secondary level in Pakistan can be encouraged for beller achievement and retention of the subject which is one of the objective of teaching or mathematics at this stage,