Malaysia

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Mathematics Education and Technology:
Past and Present – The Malaysia Experience

Yahya Abu Hasan & Mohamad Faisal b. Abdul Karim
Malaysia

Another problem is that in school, examinations overshadow everything. There is a public examination in the sixth year, ninth year, eleventh year and thirteenth year of schooling. Performance in the examinations is all-important for the children and school alike. With this being the priority, teachers are sometimes reluctant to spend time doing things that are not examinable. Teachers are more concerned in finishing the syllabus and helping the children understanding the examination 'system'.

In centers of higher learning, the outlook is brighter. We consider the case of Universiti Sains Malaysia. We believe this represent a typical center of higher learning in Malaysia. Several softwares are available to complement courses in pure mathematics, applied mathematics, statistics and operations research. There is even a course based entirely on graphing calculator (Ali, 2004).

We consider one particular software, mathematica and its use in the School of Distance Education. Currently the Universiti Sains Malaysia has 50 floating network licenses for Mathematica 5.0 on the Windows platforms and is currently available in the School of Mathematical Sciences and CKIC (Centre for Knowledge, Information and Communication) computer labs. Other Mathematica users at the university can also run Mathematica from personal computers using the floating network licenses by first establishing an internet connection through a USMNet so that the local Mathematica installation can communicate with the license manager on the School for Distance Education’s server.

Beside the School of Mathematical Sciences, School of Distance Education (SDE), which has been in existence since 1979, does offer B.Sc. in Mathematics programs via distance learning. However, the teaching of mathematics courses at a distance in SDE, USM has always taken a classical traditional approach, in that the main learning materials are in the form of printed modular form. Telecommunication technology such as audio-teleconferencing was first introduced in 1988 and later in 1991 was replaced by audio-graphics teleconference. Presently the SDE is using a video conferencing to conduct teletutorial session for mathematic courses. With active participation of students, there is strong evidence that the students' skills at mathematical communication, both written and oral can be improved via video conferencing session.

A new teaching strategy for distance learning mode using powerful computer algebra system software is being explored. An initiative was taken in 2003 to introduce Mathematica in some casual and informal form to the distance learners at SDE, like running a short workshop to the interested students during their three weeks intensive course. The idea is to use CAS Mathematica as a tool for teaching and stimulating interest in mathematics among distance students (mostly mature students). Several ways of incorporating Mathematica to assists teaching mathematics in distance learning environment has been explored. Basically, in distance learning environment Mathematica is use as a presentaion device in teleconferencing session, developing interactive Mathematica–based courseware and use by student in doing final year project. In distance learning mode, final year mathematics project is an optional. Some mathematical concepts were presented in an animated view using Mathematica in teleconferencing session. As a result, distance learning students have shown considerable interest and some have expressed intention to do final year project that make use of Mathematica.

As learning and education extend into cyberspace, attempts to improve mathematics education in the traditional and distance mode through the use of technology, namely e-learning using the webMathematica has taken a new dimension. webMathematica is a new class of technologies that allow the powerful dynamic computation throughout the web site. It is a server-based technology built on top of Java servlets that offer access to Mathematica applications via a web browser interface. webMathematica can be used in a particular style of problem-based learning in a context where each document is a problem pattern and students can work on these problems by practicing with them repeatedly and decide in each case, the different steps which are necessary for their solution.

Using instructional strategy like simulation, exploration and experimentation we use webMathematica for:

• Plain exploration purposes
• Use the computations and their visible results to understand, conjecture, or to verify mathematical facts
• Perform exercises whose solutions are automatically evaluated – checking solutions.

The example below from our course website is on the qualitative method of solving system of linear ODE. The emphasis is now on geometrical interpretation and qualitative analysis of the ODE problems rather than the typical rote application of formula techniques.

Students interactively vary the parameters a,b,c and d to see their effect, thus developing a thorough understanding of the concepts. With this technology, mathematical ideas can be reinforced with realitic examples, interactive experiments and instants visualizations on-line. To fully benefit from webMathematica in a distance learning environment, we are focusing on the instructional design aspect that transfer knowledge via student's direct interaction with content rather than with lecturers (Abdul Karim, 2001,2003,2004). The real advantage of this environment is the students do not have to own Mathematica to be able to do any computation on-line.

Future work is to optimize the use of webMathematica in developing sophisticated courses over the web, including highly interactive courseware and publish self-directed learning modules over the web. This is in line with the strategy to support our technology-enhanced teaching learning courses and would be a great resource in the networked environment.

In conclusion, much has changed in Malaysia over the last ten years. Mindsets have changed. There is a lot of enthusiasm nowadays. More than a few school children feel at ease using what was a few years ago advanced and sophisticated software. University graduates bring the tools that they learned into their workplace. It takes a lot of efforts by many to arrive to where we are now. Of course there are still problems and unresolved issues, but the hope is that these will slowly disappear.

References

R.M.Ali, L.K.Kor, Students' Reactions to Learning Mathematics with Graphing Technology, in Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Graphing Calculators, 1-20 (2004)

Abdul Karim, M. F. & U. Ufuktepe, Pedagogical Issues in webMathematica Applications in Distance Learning Mathematics, in Proceedings of the International Conference, the Humanistic Renaissance in Mathematics Education, (Italy), 25-30 (2002)

Abdul Karim, M. F., Mathematica® in Distance Learning Environment, Malaysian Journal of Educational Technology , 25 – 34, Vol 3, (2003)

Abdul Karim, M. F., Majid, A.A. & Piah A.R.M, A webMathematica® Application for Exploration and Visualization of Bezier and B-Spline Curves, in Proceedings International Conference on Computer Graphics, Imaging and Visualization, 143 – 148, (2004)
Munirah Ghazali; A Survey Into The Use of Microcomputers in The Teaching of Mathematics in Penang Secondary Schools, Malaysia. in Proceedings of The First Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics, 177-183 (1995).

Yusuf Hashim, Teaching Technology (in Malay), Fajar Bakti Publication

A.I.Ismail,, A.H.Yahya, A.W.Jusoh, A.Z.Talib; Introducing and Enhancing Computing Techiques and Tools in an Undergraduate Mathematics Program, in Proceedings of The Second Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics, 54 – 59 (1997)

N.Idris; Exploration and Entertaining Mathematics: Why Graphic Calculator?, in Proceedings of the second National Conference on Graphic Calculators, 45 – 54 (2004).

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