Differences between Concrete and Virtual Manipulatives - Thesis Example

?DATA ANALYSIS This section of the dissertation is committed to making the results that were gathered from the data collection process known. So far,data have been collected on the difference between concrete and conceptual manipulative, by comparing the academic differences that students who used these two types of manipulative display. To this end, students in 10th grade were given various mathematical problems to solve. The results that came from the data collection have been presented and discussed below. It is worth emphasizing that because the current research was conducted using the mixed research approach the data have been grouped into qualitative and quantitative data. Presentation and Interpretation of Data Qualitative Analysis 1. Advantages of using Concrete Manipulative in Teaching Data was collected to ascertain the advantages that the use of concrete manipulative have on the learning of mathematics at the 10th grade. To do this, respondents were made to undertake various tests that involved the use of concrete or physical manipulative. It must be emphasized that, for a comparative study like this, it was necessary to get a yardstick to measure the performance of the students with. This is to say that it was necessary to create a platform that would make it possible to measure the impact of the concrete manipulative on learning separately. To this end, students were first made to undertake a class lesson on various mathematical topics including number sense, geometry, algebra, and probability and statistics. The first lesson did not involve the use of any concrete manipulative or any other form of learning manipulative. The lesson was therefore done in abstraction. After this, a second lesson was undertaken. This lesson on the other hand involved the use of concrete manipulative. As the leader of the class in the lesson, some major advantages of the concrete manipulative that were recorded include the fact that: i. Students became highly involved in the teaching and learning process ii. Teaching and learning became interactive iii. Learning became physical and real iv. The teacher spent lesser amount of physical energy trying to explain concepts to students because oral interaction was limited. v. The use of the concrete manipulative enhanced the use of dynamic teaching styles. 2. Limitations to the use of concrete manipulative The same group of lessons that were taught in the class as a means of ascertaining the impact of the use of concrete manipulative in teaching also brought out a number of weaknesses or limitations that are associated with the use of concrete manipulative in teaching. After the first lesson (pre-test), which did not involve the use of concrete manipulative was completed and the second lesson (post-test), which involved the use of concrete manipulative was underway, the researcher observed that it took more time to finish teaching the same topic when no concrete manipulative was used. That is, the use of concrete manipulative is time consuming. Again, it was noticed that class control became a little difficult when the teacher introduce the concrete manipulative to the class. Even more, there was clear indication and evidence that the continuous use of concrete manipulative for teaching was going to come with some extra expenditure to the class. Finally, it was observed that the use of concrete manipulative demands so much skill and experience. 3. Advantages of using virtual manipulative Great amount of data were also collected to ascertain the importance or advantages of using virtual manipulative in teaching mathematics at the 10th grade. Most of these data were secondary data from the literature review that was conducted. According to some of the major researchers whose works were reviewed, it was established that using the virtual manipulative in teaching and learning mathematics offers almost the same relevance and importance as the use of concrete manipulative (quote). This is because the academic idea of using virtual manipulative is to give a digital representation of the same forms of concrete manipulative that the child formally used (quote). In a step further to use primary data to authenticate the secondary data, the researcher made a group of students who had earlier undertaken a test without the use of any manipulative undertake a test by using virtual manipulative. Indeed, according to results from the later test, which shall later be displayed quantitatively, it was established that general scoring rate of students were improved and enhanced. Furthermore, students were seen to acquiring additional skills to the mathematical concepts that were being taught. Some of these skills included the use of basic computer software, interactive skills, audio visual enhancement skills, among others. 4. Limitations to the use of virtual manipulative Using the observation data collection technique of observation, the researcher sampled data on what the limitations of using virtual manipulative in teaching and learning are. Some secondary data were also selected to facilitate these pieces of information. Through the use of virtual manipulative in teaching and through the conduct of the test, the researcher discovered that i. It demands a lot of rehearsal from students to master its use ii. The time in gaining perfection in the rehearsals could consume some of the actual teaching and learning time iii. Children tend to take so much interest in the computer skills that they acquire rather than the actual mathematical concepts iv. Class control becomes difficult as the teacher has to give each student attention at the same time. v. The teacher has to prepare his lesson such that the individual learning needs of each student is met in the use of the virtual manipulative. For example the brightness and contrast of the computer that is being used must be adjusted to fit the individual demands of each student. vi. Due to the individualized attention that the teacher has to give, the use of virtual manipulative does not become suitable for larger class sizes 5. Factors to consider in selecting manipulative materials for teaching mathematics For the teacher to achieve the best of mathematical lesson that is being taught, it is important to make a lot of consideration in the selection of manipulative materials for the class. This is to say that before the teacher decides on either using virtual manipulative or concrete manipulative, there are several considerations that need to be made. According to the secondary data collected and with experience from the observation of using both kinds of manipulative materials in the study, the researcher gathers that the age of the students is an important factor to consider in settling to either use concrete manipulative or virtual manipulative. This is because at certain ages, students are more likely to succeed with concrete manipulative than virtual manipulative and vice versa. The maturity level of the students is also another important point to consider. Generally, the more mature the students are, the more likely they are to succeed with virtual manipulative equipment (quote). The teacher also has to consider if the students have any special needs that needs to be addressed in making them either concrete manipulative or virtual manipulative. Yet again, it would be prudent for the teacher to consider the resources available. In a situation where there are not enough resources like computers to cater for virtual manipulative, the best option would be the use of concrete manipulative and vice versa. Finally, the teacher teaching mathematics has to consider the concept that he wants to develop among students. This is because studies have showed that regardless of their individual advantages and weaknesses, virtual manipulative and concrete manipulative go best with some mathematical concepts than others. 6. Role of the teacher in using concrete manipulative materials Once the teacher decides to go beyond the use of abstraction to use concrete manipulative in teaching, he has to be prepared to play some key roles in the course of teaching and learning. In the course of the study and whiles the researcher was acting as the teacher, there were some key observations that were made in the changed and assumed roles that he had to undertake as the teacher in using concrete manipulative. The first was the realization that the teacher has the role of assisting students who exhibit signs of special assistance or needs. There are some students who have special needs in undertaking basic manipulative skills such as holding, cutting, sorting and so on. With such students, it is the role of the teacher to ensure that they receive maximum assistance. Again, the teacher plays the role of a commentator, whereby he explains to students, the meaning of the concepts that they discover for themselves. Though it has been noted that the use of concrete manipulative gives students the opportunity to discover concepts for themselves, it is only when the teacher gives oral explanation to concepts that students really understand what they discover (quote). What is more, the teacher has to ensure that students acquiring the right concepts that are expected to develop. The reason why this is important is that as children interact with materials, there is the tendency that they would discover new concepts for themselves. The teacher has to control the class in such a way that such students do not deviate from the main concept that the teacher is trying to teach. 7. Role of the teacher in using virtual manipulative materials Just as with the use of concrete manipulative, the teacher also has a lot of roles to play while using virtual manipulative. The study has separated the roles of the teachers for these two forms of manipulative materials so as the make the purpose of the study, which is to identify the differences between the use of concrete and virtual manipulative study out clearly. While collecting data for the study in the form of conducting various classroom related lessons and giving out assessment tests to students by the use of virtual manipulative, the researcher discovered that some of the major roles that he had to play included the need to serve as a general facilitator for the lesson. What this means is that even though the child was put at the center of learning, the teacher had to act as a facilitator, directing students as to where they should head their learning experience. Class control is another duty of the teacher as there use of virtual manipulative would leave the whole class into a state of chaos and anarchy. The teacher is also demanded to give out evaluation assessments to pupils to ascertain from them how fast they are catching up with lessons and concepts being developed. Finally, the teacher has to give immediate and prompt feedback to pupils on their performance level. 8. Effect of combining concrete and virtual manipulative on learning Qualitatively, the researcher collected data by making observation on what the impact of combing concrete manipulative with virtual manipulative would be on student learning. In the course of the data collection, this prompted for a special test that was labeled as T3. The T3 test was a teaching and learning period where the researcher used both concrete manipulative and virtual manipulative in teaching. After this, there was a special assessment drill to look at the outcome of student performance. Some of the glaring effects that were seen include the fact that the offered students the opportunity to be selective on a choice of manipulative that best served their learning style and learning needs. Indeed in a classroom situation where the needs of all individual learners are met, the teacher is assured that dissemination of understanding will be enhanced because the teacher is not forced to use a single method or strategy for all the students. In simple terms, the combination of concrete and virtual manipulative in teaching ensures that the dynamic and diverse needs of students are met (quote). Read More