Use of iPads for Improving Learners' Performance in Math (Term Paper Sample)

Name
Instructor
Subject
Date
Improving Learners’ Performance in Math
Math is one of the subjects that many students find challenging, and often, fail or score low grades. Part of the reason could be due to the misconception that some students are naturally good in math, while others, especially girls, are poor in math and science subjects in general. In addition, it appears, as I gathered from my observation at the school I visited, that the current approaches to teaching math are not helping slow learners to improve, while they are also delaying the advancement of fast learners. In this essay, I explore the problems that students face in learning math, and propose possible ways of addressing these obstacles. The paper argues that there is a need for a change in teaching methodologies to better equip learners with the skills they require to excel in math. To improve math skills in learners, it is necessary to engage students in classroom activities, discourage the use of electronic devices like calculators and iPads, which provide quick answers with little input from the learners, as well as to have separate classrooms for fast and slow learners.
The observations I made in a private school during math lessons indicate that the biggest challenge to math learning is not the ability of learners, but the approaches that teachers employ in teaching math. In the particular school I have been visiting, I observed that each student has an iPad, which they use to do calculations and get quick answers. The problem with using technology in subjects like math is that it makes things too easy for the student, to the extent that they apply little critical thinking schools. Solving math problems require learners to apply critical thinking skills in diving, adding, subtracting, as well as applying formulae to get answers. The iPad makes these skills unnecessary because it can do the hard work of adding, dividing and subtracting numbers. All that the student does is key-in the numbers and press the function that he wants the iPad to do. The argument is often fronted that using technology, such as having iPads in classrooms, is one way of making learners like the subject because they find it interesting to use iPads to manipulate numbers. Hollylynne Lee and Karen Hollebrands of North Carolina State University say that the major reason for integrating technology into the teaching of math is to encourage learners’ participation in classroom activities (Lee and Hollebrands 2008). Given that students have traditionally disliked math because they consider it a difficult subject, it is reasonable to argue that technology plays a positive role by encouraging learners to like the subject. The big question, however, is at what cost is it justifiable to arouse learners’ interest in a subject they consider difficult? Is it worth compromising the learners’ development of critical thinking skills for the sake of making them like a subject, in this case math?
Responding to these questions will help in addressing the real problems that students face in learning math. The role of technology should not be allowing students to get accurate answers quickly, as is the case with the use of calculators in math, but to promote the development of computational and critical thinking skills. Merrilyn Goos, Director of the Teaching and Educational Development Institute at the University of Queensland points out that the use of technology such as iPads and calculators to teach math has the possibility of fundamentally changing “students’ mathematical practices and even the nature of the mathematical knowledge they learn at school” (Goos 67). This may be the case in elementary education whereby the calculator or iPad becomes a substitute for the student’s brain in juggling numbers. Thus, while it makes it easier for learners to get accurate answers in addition to increasing their interest in a difficulty subject, technology presents the risk of slowing the development of critical thinking and computational skills in learners. This is because too much dependence on technology to do the difficult stuff of calculating numbers slows the learners’ thinking ability and reduces the level of engagement in problem solving. In math, the level of learner engagement is determined by their active involvement in finding the answer. Calculators and iPads reduces engagement level by doing the computation and calculation processes, and churning out the answer after pressing the “=” symbol. The student has zero input, for example, in applying the concept of decimals when dividing 10 by 3. All the student does is type the problem, press the answer button, and hurrah, the iPad or calculator does its magic to get 0.33333. It is such concerns, the risk of letting technology to get the answers, that informs this paper’s argument that the use of iPads could potentially hinder learners’ understanding of mathematical concepts. Most importantly, using the aid of iPads to solve problems denies students the opportunity to develop critical skills like “reasoning, abstraction, pattern and relationship recognition, and conceptual thinking” (Wills 56). The end result is that the iPads hinders their human skills and makes them helpless when they are asked to solve problems without the help of electronic devices. It would be more appropriate, therefore, to encourage students to engage their minds in computing math problems as a means of developing competence.
The second observation I made is that there was little group work as each student worked alone on assignments. At no time did the teacher ask the students to come together and discuss a given problem. In addition to helping learners develop teamwork skills, working in groups in important in encouraging sharing of ideas and helping learners deepen their understanding of a concept through the process of explaining it to others. Learners increase their knowledge when they try to teach fellow others. This is because they get to answer questions to clarify obscure points as well as gain the input of other students. While working individually enhances the learner’s ability to tackle problems without outside assistance, group work can be useful in motivating the learners since they take on a problem as a group. Writing for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Katie Gibbons and Sarah Bush state that middle school students being social in nature, teachers can use group work to promote cooperative learning. Group work encourages learners not only to share ideas, but to become more creative by attempting to solve problems without the teacher’s direct input. The independence that earners show hen working in groups allows them to brainstorm, combine ideas and correct each other to arrive at a solution. This interactive learning process helps students to learn from each other, while the slow pace of working in groups ensures that everyone learns.
The third issue that I observed is the inability of slow learners to keep up with the teacher’s pace. This is understandable partly because of the time constraints that require a teacher to complete a lesson within a given time. However, it has a detrimental effect on slow learners who gain little at the end of the lesson. A worrying trend that I noticed is that the teacher focused on the brighter students during the question-answer sessions. It struck me that slow learners were spectators in the whole session as the teacher directed questions at certain students, all who answered correctly. The effect of this approach is that it discourages slow learners from being actively involved in the learning process. At the same time, directing all the questions at the brighter students sends a message to slow learners that they are actually dumb and the teacher does not expect them to get the answers correct. Teacher can help slow learners, as well as encourage them to be active learners, by using the question-answer sessions to address the problems of slow learners. The teacher can ask the learners what they did not understand and assist them by providing more examples and assisting individual students with their problems (Cooney, Davis and Henderson 335). Although it is recommended that the teacher should create time for remedial lessons to repeat difficult topics or help slow learners to understand the topic concepts, classroom activities like short assignments and the question-answer sessions, provide an opportunity for the teacher to build on what the student has already learned during the lesson before they can forget it. Thus, teachers should always aim to help slow learners during classroom learning activities as the learners are still on tune with the topic, and the teacher can make a big difference by clarifying a few points.
Instead of giving students homework to do at home, the teacher gave class work assignments which the students completed while at school. This approach might be due to the possibility that students might not benefit much from home work as a result of being assisted by parents or elder siblings. This presents another challenge in determining whether the student actually understands the topic after getting all the questions right, but only because they were assisted to do the homework. Thus, teachers may value class work more than home work in assessing learners’ progress. However, it is important to take into account the risk of overloading students with assignments within a short time, i.e. during the lesson. On of the purposes of having home work assignments is to allow students, especially slow learners, to complete the tasks at their own pace. It is possible that even bright students may fail to get the correct answers during class work not because they don’t know how to solve the math problems assigned, but becaus...