The effects of the use of calculators on the attitudes of high school students toward Mathematics

• Main Author: Dionio, Janet Duldulao
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1993
• Subjects: Calculators; High school students > Attitudes; Mathematical ability > Testing; Algebra; Analysis; Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research; Numerical Analysis and Computation; Science and Mathematics Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1504
• Institution: De La Salle University

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the use of calculators on the attitudes of high school students toward mathematics. Procedure: The study was conducted in the different year levels in six high schools in the Division of City Schools, Quezon City during the school year 1991-1992. Three of these schools were randomly selected as the experimental schools and the three others were purposively selected as the control schools. One section each in the different year levels handled by their respective teachers in Mathematics in these schools were included in the experiment. The experimental groups used handheld calculators as a computational device while the control groups used paper-and-pencil algorithm. The duration of the experiment was from July 11, 1991 to February 11, 1992.Both groups were given a pre-and post-experimental Mathematics Attitude Inventory to determine and compare possible changes in their attitudes toward mathematics as a result of the experiment. The study used the Mathematics Attitude Inventory constructed and validated by Milagros Ibe. The researcher had the Inventory translated in Filipino for better understanding especially of the first and second year students. The t-test for dependent and independent samples were used to verify the hypotheses of the study at the .05 level of significance. Findings: It was found out that the use of calculator had no significant effect on the subjects' attitudes toward mathematics. It was also found out that there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in all the year levels in terms of their attitudes toward mathematics. Conclusions: The attitude toward mathematics of the high school students included in the study was positive, that is, whether or not the calculator was used in the learning of mathematics, it does not in anyway affect the attitudes of high school students towards mathematics. It can be also concluded that the use of calculator can sustain more the attitudes of high school students towards mathematics than without the use of it. Recommendations: Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, it is recommended that the use of calculators in the mathematics classes can be allowed to a limited extent for it does not adversely affect the attitudes of students in the different year levels. It is also recommended that a study be conducted with the students using scientific calculators instead of ordinary common calculators to determine whether its use will have a greater positive effect on the performance and attitudes of students in the different levels. It is suggested that administrators in the public schools support the use of calculators in the teaching of mathematics by alloting a portion of the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenditures (MODE) for the purchase of calculators enough for the use of one whole class of a mathematics teacher. It is further suggested that a seminar-workshop for teachers on the proper use of calculators in the teaching of mathematics in the public schools be held so that its use will be more beneficial to the students.