Technology and the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics – the SINGAPORE Experience

Keng-Cheng Ang
Peng-Yee Lee
Singapore

Background

About a decade ago, the advent of affordable and accessible Information Technology (IT) brought about significant changes and challenges in many aspects of Singapore’s mathematics education. Along with other initiatives such as the Thinking School Learning Nation (TSLN) philosophy and National Education (NE), Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) launched the first IT Masterplan for education (mp1) in 1997 [1]. The main objective of mp1 was to provide the necessary infrastructure to all schools, so as to make IT-enriched learning environments accessible to every student by 2002 [2], [3]. This target was well met. By 2002, all schools in Singapore had the necessary IT infrastructure and resources.

Apart from providing the physical infrastructure, mp1 had other objectives. These include training teachers in basic IT skills and equipping teachers with some pedagogical knowledge on integrating IT in their lessons. In addition, curriculum content was reduced to allow for more use of IT in the classrooms.

The second Masterplan for IT (mp2) was launched in July 2002 and is expected to progress to 2008. The main objective of mp2 is to encourage effective, innovative and pervasive use of IT in an ability-driven education. Access to IT facilities should no longer be an issue; the question now is how these are used effectively to support future initiatives.

In the early 1990s, the use of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) in mathematics teaching was introduced. This resulted in the production of a series of CAI titles by the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore (CDIS). The series consists mainly of drill-and-practice type of courseware. This was followed later by titles such as the Dynamic Mathematics Series. Apart from these, at the secondary level, teachers were exposed to tools such as Graphmatica, Geometers’ Sketchpad (GSP) and Microsoft Excel. Teachers are encouraged to integrate the use of these tools into their mathematics lessons. To help them, many workshops and professional development programmes, including sponsorship to attend international conferences such as the ATCM series, were made available. Under the mp2, schools can request for specialized workshops based on the schools’ individual needs to be held for their teachers.

Impact on mathematics learning and teaching

Against such a backdrop and with the vision of these Masterplans, one question that mathematics educators would naturally ask is whether the introduction of IT has had any significant impact in the mathematics classroom. There have numerous local studies carried out to evaluate the impact of the use IT on mathematics learning and teaching. However, these studies are often very focused on a specific technology for a specific topic under some specified conditions. Results from these studies, even if valid, may not be applicable across board.

Nevertheless, it is evident that teachers have become more IT-savvy. There is increased confidence in the basic use of IT in the classroom, particularly in terms of using various presentation tools. Very often, open tools or special purpose software are used as “demo tools” to help students visualize or appreciate certain mathematical concepts. In addition, teachers are also more aware of the range of IT tools available (including online resources such as HeyMath) and their possibilities. This growing awareness helps mathematics teachers accept the use of technology in the classroom.

Apart from using IT presentation tools, at elementary and secondary levels, teachers also take advantage of the computer’s power and speed in performing computations. The reports in [3], [4] and [5] are but a few examples which illustrate what mathematics teachers in Singapore have been able to do at these levels. At pre-University and tertiary levels, hand-held technology, computer algebra systems and other special purpose software titles are commonly used in various courses. For instance, Ang and Awyong successfully integrated the use of Maple in both Algebra and Calculus undergraduate courses [7]. Cheang exploited the freeware “R” in statistics courses [8] while Toh introduced a novel way of using GSP in the teaching of mechanics [9].

Curriculum

Has the Singapore mathematics curriculum changed or evolved because we now have powerful IT tools? The content reduction exercise undertaken by the MOE several years ago aims to provide more instructional time to accommodate the various new initiatives, the use of IT being one such initiative. Curriculum content, however, remains somewhat the same over the last ten years despite the availability and accessibility of IT tools.

Textbooks used in schools here remain largely the same. Although there may be more exercises that require the use of some form of technology, the content and approach have not changed much. One reason could be that textbooks are written to help students with their high-stakes examinations, such as the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and the GCE “O” and “A” level examinations. As long as items in these examinations remain as before, there will be no motivation for textbook writers to deviate too far from the norm or traditional.

At lower levels, the mathematics curriculum emphasizes skills and conceptual understanding. Technology is used to help students learn the skills and concepts. There is little, if any, emphasis on experimental or computational mathematics, though some tools may have been used to perform tedious or routine computations. At the higher levels, although CAS may have been used, they are seldom exploited for their full potential in symbolic computations and experimentations. One reason could be that the curriculum does not require it, and neither does the assessment. In other words, despite the advent of powerful computing and technology tools, the Singapore mathematics curriculum has not changed much in the last ten years.

What has changed significantly is the way the content is delivered. Apart from delivery in the classroom, some schools post mathematics problems online and students are to download them from home. As it turned out, this mode of “delivery” became crucial when Singapore was hit by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in the first half of 2003 and schools were closed for a period of time. Many schools in Singapore switched to an “online distance learning” mode almost instantly, demonstrating the ability of their teachers and students to exploit technology when necessary.