Online Supplemental Instructions – An Alternative Model for the Learning of Mathematics
More than 90% of Open University Malaysia (OUM)’s learners are working adults who are unable to leave their jobs or families behind to pursue their dreams of getting a degree. The blended learning mode adopted by OUM provides the flexibility for working adults to obtain their paper qualifications an...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Published: |
2009
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/282/1/online_supplemental_ici9.pdf http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/282/ |
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| Institution: | Open University Malaysia |
| Summary: | More than 90% of Open University Malaysia (OUM)’s learners are working adults who are unable to leave their jobs or families behind to pursue their dreams of getting a degree. The blended learning mode adopted by OUM provides the flexibility for working adults to obtain their paper qualifications and to upgrade their knowledge. Mathematics, a traditionally difficult course, forms part of the pre-requisite for learners to obtain a business degree at OUM. The adult learners at OUM generally have left school for at least five years and most of them have low grades in Mathematics at O’ Level. Thus it is a big challenge for these adult learners to undertake a Mathematics course via online with minimum Face-to-Face contact with their tutors.
This paper proposes an alternative model of learning mathematics known as Online Supplemental Instruction (OSI) model which involves three components; pre-tutorial workshop, online mentoring, and online video support. The research which involved 132 learners under the tutorship of two tutors was carried out to find the impact of the model on learners’ online participation and final exam score. The contents of the online discussion forum were analyzed using a 34-item instrument derived from the Community of Inquiry (COI) model. Learners’ online participation behavioral pattern was also analyzed. Results obtained showed that there was a strong correlation between learners who have participated in the OSI model of learning and their online participation and final exam score.
Keywords: Online Participation, Mathematics, Community of Inquiry, Mathematics, Supplemental Instruction, Collaborative Online Learning, Weblog, Online Mentoring, Video support. (Authors' abstract) |
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