A SURVEY OF MATHEMATICS TEACHERS ATTITUDE AND COMPETENCE TOWARDS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
ABSTRACT
There is widespread recognition of the critical role of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education. Several studies have emphasized the importance of ICT in empowering teachers and improving teaching performance.
The purpose of this study was to investigate empirically teachers’ attitudes and competence toward information and communication technology in education. The impact of gender on their attitude and competence was investigated.
The data for this study came from both primary and secondary sources. In this case, the primary source is a questionnaire distributed to 50 mathematics teachers (25 males and 25 females) from secondary schools in Yaba, Lagos, while the secondary sources include textbooks, journals, and International Networking (Internet).
The survey included questions about teachers’ attitudes and competence in using ICT, as well as questions about their level of ICT usage.
The study’s findings, which were analyzed using frequency count and chi-square statistics, revealed that the majority of teachers have a positive attitude toward the use of ICT; are competent in the use of a few basic ICT tools; and that there are significant gender differences in the teachers’ competence level and attitudes toward the use of ICT tools.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND
Literature has established the potentials of information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate student learning, improve teaching, and improve institutional administration (Kazu & Yavulzalp, 2008; Kirschner & Woperies, 2003).
The use of information and communication technology as a tool for improving student learning, mathematics teachers’ instruction, and as a catalyst for improving access to quality education in formal and non-formal settings has become a requirement.
Recognizing the impact of new technologies on the workplace and daily life, teacher education institutions attempt to restructure their education programs and classroom facilities in order to maximize the potential of ICT in improving teacher education content.
Information and communication technology as tools in the school environment include their use for school administration and management, teaching and learning of ICT related skills for enhancing the presentation of classroom work, teaching/learning repetitive tasks, teaching/learning intellectual, thinking, and problem-solving skills, stimulating creativity and imagination; for research by mathematics teachers and students, and as a communication tool by mathematics teachers (Collis & Moonen, 2001; Derbyshire, 2003; Moursund & Bielefeldt, 1999).
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are computer-based tools that people use to work with an organization’s information and communication processing needs. Its scope includes computer hardware and software, networks, and other digital devices such as video, audio, cameras, and so on that convert information (text, sound, motion, etc.) into digital form (Moursund & Bielefeldt, 1999).
The successful integration of ICT in the school system is heavily reliant on mathematics teachers’ competence and attitude toward the role of modern technologies in teaching and learning. As a result, experienced mathematics teachers, newly qualified teachers, and student-mathematics teachers must be confident in their ability to use ICT effectively in their teaching (Kyriakidou, Chrisostomou, & Bank, 2000).
The mere presence of ICT in schools does not guarantee its effective use. Regardless of the quantity and quality of technology in classrooms, the key to how those tools are used is the teacher; thus, mathematics teachers must be competent and have a positive attitude toward technology (Kadel, 2005). Attitudes are one’s positive or negative feelings toward a specific subject.
Attitudes are formed through the analysis of information pertaining to the outcome of an action, as well as the positive or negative evaluation of these outcomes (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). There’s an old adage that says attitude determines altitude.
Several studies have found strong links and affinities between mathematics teachers’ attitudes and their use of ICT. A higher level of computer experience was associated with more positive attitudes toward computers (Dyck & Smither, 1995; Teo, 2008).
Students’ confidence in ICT can be explained by their mathematics teachers’ attitudes and behaviors. The behavior of mathematics teachers has a significant impact on students’ confidence and attitude toward ICT because they serve as important role models for their students (Derbyshire, 2003).
According to the literature, one of the main reasons why mathematics teachers do not use technology in their teaching is a lack of adequate training and experience. As a result, mathematics teachers have a negative attitude toward computers and technology. Furthermore, mathematics teachers’ lack of confidence leads to a reluctance to use computers (Kumar & Kumar, 2003).
By incorporating technology into teacher education, pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers’ attitudes toward computer and technology skills can be improved (Zammit, 1992). According to the findings, there is a significant relationship between computer attitude and its use in institutions for pre-service mathematics teachers (Khine, 2001), as well as for serving mathematics teachers in the affective attitude, general usefulness, behavioral control, and pedagogical use (Yuen & Ma, 2002).
Attitude plays a significant role in predicting future computer use. According to Lee’s (1997) study, one of the critical success factors is appropriate responses to trainees’ feelings about using ICT. As a result, there is a need to address the emotional needs of student mathematics teachers, as attitude is a significant predictor of future ICT use.
Student mathematics teachers have a positive attitude toward interactive whiteboards as an important feature of teaching and learning, which has motivated them to practice using the technology (Kennewell, & Morgan, 2003)
In Sub-Saharan Africa, there is a gender gap in education, and out-of-school children, the majority of whom are girls, are denied any opportunity to gain ICT-related knowledge and skills in school. African women have the world’s lowest rates of enrollment in science and technology education at all levels.
A study conducted in four African countries discovered that, while girls are given the same access to computers as boys in theory, gender equity does not exist in practice (Derbyshire, 2003). However, Kirkpatrick and Cuban (1998) found that when female and male students had the same amount and type of computer experience, females’ achievement scores and attitudes were comparable to males’ at all educational levels.
According to studies, females are less interested in computers and use them less frequently in their spare time (Schaumburg, 2001). Furthermore, studies have shown that girls are less confident in their computer skills than boys, and that in the vast majority of countries, boys outperformed girls in computer-related knowledge and skills.
Furthermore, the top three computer-related occupations for boys are computer scientists, computer engineers and system analysts, and computer science and engineering (Derbyshire, 2003). Females also have a more negative attitude toward computers (Bebetsos & Antoniou, 2008),
so they are often less computer literate than males (Kadel, 2005; Schaumburg, 2001; Townsend, 1997), and this may result in different ways of using the computer (Schaumburg, 2001). (Jackson, Ervin, Gardner, & Schmitt, 2001).
According to Sefyrin (2005), competence in ICT can be viewed as a question of interest in ICT, with men being more interested in ICT than women. As a result, the study supported the view of gender and competence as actively constructed in a social process. This is due to the fact that understandings of the terms were negotiated among individuals in the groups studied and thus used as norms by which individuals understood themselves and their behaviors.
Serving and student-mathematics teachers must be proficient in the use of ICT as well as be able to critically evaluate strategies for the acquisition and appropriate application of ICT in a variety of curriculum areas (Robbin, 1998). Kirschner and Woperies (2003)
identified major ICT competencies required by mathematics teachers as competency in making personal use of ICT; mastery of a range of educational paradigms that make use of ICT; competency in using ICT as minds tools; competency in using ICT as a tool for teaching, competency in mastering a range of assessment paradigms that involve use of ICT; and competency in understanding the policy dimensions of the use of ICT.
Pre-service teacher education should emphasize the need for student-mathematics teachers to have ICT skills for their own use in preparing materials for teaching and learning activities; the need to facilitate direct use of ICT in students’ learning activities within the classroom situation; and the need for mathematics teachers to instill in their students a critical awareness of ICT applications and the social implications (Robbins, 1998).
Similarly, Marija and Palmira (2007) divided ICT competencies into two categories: basic ICT competence and educational ICT competence. These competencies are expanded upon in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s ICT competency standards for mathematics teachers (UNESCO, 2008a, 2008b).
According to these documents, information and communication technology competency is more than just a focus on ICT skills. It is, rather, a comprehensive approach to education reform in six broad areas: policy, curriculum and assessment,
pedagogy, technology use, school organization and administration, and teacher professional development. The UNESCO (2008a, 2008b) mathematics teacher standards are intended to improve mathematics teachers’ practice in using ICT in an innovative way for teaching, collaborating with colleagues, and school organization.
Lee (1997) discovered that a large number of pre-service mathematics teachers lack basic computer operational skills; thus, in order for mathematics teachers to integrate ICT into the school curriculum, preparation must begin at the pre-service teacher education level. Teacher educators must understand the dimensions of pre-service teacher attitude in order to develop teacher education curricula that are relevant for the modern knowledge age.
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
According to studies, there is a significant gap between policy development and implementation in Nigerian schools when it comes to computer education (Jegede & Owolabi, 2005). When it comes to information and communication technology in the Nigerian health sector, only mobile phones and the Internet are available to some extent in Nigerian hospitals (Idowu, Ogunbodede, & Idowu, 2003).
In terms of mathematics teachers’ competence, mathematics teachers in Nigerian secondary schools are not proficient in basic computer operation and the use of generic software (Yusuf, 2005), despite their positive attitude toward computer use in Nigerian secondary schools (Yusuf, 1998).
These findings revealed a low level of ICT penetration in the Nigerian school system, despite positive attitudes among mathematics teachers. These computer and ICT studies have primarily focused on practicing mathematics teachers in Nigerian secondary schools, at the expense of research on pre-service mathematics teachers. Most studies
on the attitudes of pre-service mathematics teachers toward ICT were conducted outside of Nigeria; in fact, very few studies on computer attitude and competence have focused on academic and non-academic staff at Nigerian higher education institutions (Jegede, 2008, Ololube, 2007).
Understanding the attitudes and perceived competence of mathematics teachers in the use of ICT may provide useful insight into the future of technology integration, acceptance, and usage in teaching and learning in Nigerian teacher education institutions and other developing countries.
1.2 THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The primary goal of this research is to look into the knowledge and attitudes of mathematics teachers toward information and communication technology. The current study specifically looked at:
1. Mathematics teachers’ attitudes toward the use of ICT.
2. The ability of mathematics teachers to use ICT.
3. The effect of gender on the competence and attitude of mathematics teachers toward ICT.
1.3 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
The study will be guided by the following research questions:
1. How do mathematics teachers feel about information and communication technology (ICT)?
2. How proficient are mathematics teachers in the use of information and communication technology (ICT)?
3. Will there be a difference in attitudes toward information and communication technology between male and female mathematics teachers?
4. Will there be differences in information and communication technology (ICT) competence between male and female mathematics teachers?
1.4 HYPOTHESIS OF RESEARCH
The following hypotheses were developed in response to the research questions:
Hypothesis One: There is no statistically significant difference between male and female mathematics teachers’ attitudes toward information and communication technology (ICT).
Hypothesis two: There is no significant difference in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) between male and female mathematics teachers.
1.5 STUDY OBJECTIVES
This study looked at teachers’ knowledge and attitudes toward information and communication technology. Gender influences on competence and attitude were also investigated. 50 mathematics teachers from ten different secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria, took part in the study.
The data collected via a questionnaire was analyzed using frequency count and chi-square statistics, revealing attitudes toward ICT use and competence in the use of a few basic ICT tools. There was a significant difference in attitudes and use of ICT between male and female teachers.
The assumption is that teachers lacked the necessary competence to fully integrate ICT into the curriculum, emphasizing the need to improve the ICT content of teacher education programs in Nigerian schools.
1.6 TERMS AND CONDITIONS
ATTITUDE: Attitude refers to one’s way of thinking and acting. It can be both positive and negative.
COMPETENCE: This is the ability to do something well or effectively based on one’s skill or knowledge.
PARADIGMS: A paradigm is a model of something that explains or demonstrates how it can be produced.
PEDAGOGY: Pedagogy is the study and theory of teaching methods and principles.
ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology.
CHE is an abbreviation for the Council of Higher Education.
ITMD stands for Instructional Technologies and Materials Development.
MS APP stands for Microsoft Word Application.
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