The Twelfth International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society, 11-12 December 2015, Thailand 17.1

Interactive Learning Materials (ILMs) as Supplement for Teaching High School

Students in the Philippines Lynie Dimasuay1

Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines

1lyniedimasuay@gmail.com

Chinen Aguna2 Judge Feliciano Belmonte Sr. High School, Philippines

2nen_09@yahoo.com Abstract - The implementation of the K-12 Law or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 in the Philippines brought a major revamp in the curriculum especially in Mathematics. Topics that are formerly included in the tertiary level such as sets, logic and pre-calculus are now being included in high school curriculum. In order to facilitate efficient and effective learning, the use of Interactive Learning Materials (ILMs) as supplementary teaching strategy is a way to help both students and teachers. The ILMs were developed in PowerPoint so students can go over the topics anytime while teachers can update examples and assessments. This study focused on the evaluation of ILMs on three topics in Grade 7: sets, set relations, and set operations. Both students and teachers evaluated the effectiveness of the ILMs. The criteria used for evaluation were classified into three groups: a) clarity and organization, student learning, and c) design and operability. Likert scale was used to evaluate the students’ responses (1- strongly agree, 2-agree, 3-neither agree or disagree, 4-disagree, and 5-strongly disagree) from two schools, Christian School International (CSI) and Maquiling School Incorporated (MSI). On the other hand, the four-point scale was used to evaluate the teachers’ responses. The weighted mean in each criterion was calculated. Results showed that CSI

students responded strongly agree (1.43) to ILMs as clear and organized while MSI students responded agree (1.62). Meanwhile, students from both schools gave a response of agree to the ILMs effectiveness for student learning (CSI= 1.56; MSI = 1.79), and gave a response of strongly agree for their design and operability (CSI = 1.37; MSI = 1.42). The teachers rated strongly agree on the clarity and organization (1.32) while they responded agree for both student learning (1.62) and design and operability (1.60). In conclusion, the ILMs on sets, set relations, and set operations can be used as effective supplementary learning materials for students in Grade 7. Teachers could easily incorporate the ILMs into their lectures and these could further motivate and enhance student’s learning. Keywords - Interactive Learning Materials, Sets, Set Relations, Set Operations

I. INTRODUCTION

The Basic Enhanced Education Act of 2013 (also known as the K-12 program) was first implemented in the Philippines in 2012. This aims to align our curriculum with the global standards since the Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of the only three countries worldwide with a 10-year pre- university cycle [1]. The addition of two years in high school brought a major revamp in the

Interactive Learning Materials (ILMs) as Supplement for Teaching High School Students in the Philippines

The Twelfth International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society, 11-12 December 2015, Thailand 17.2

curriculum. Some lessons from tertiary level are now being incorporated in the new curriculum. For instance, topics such sets, set relations and set operations are now being included in the Grade 7 curriculum.

In order to cope up with these changes, educators are seeking ways on how to improve and incorporate better teaching and learning strategies in Mathematics. Given the level of technology imbibed by today’s society, one useful method is computer-aided learning.

The use of computers in learning Mathematics makes the interest level of the students higher. In the study that was conducted on the effectiveness of the use of computer-aided instruction on teaching Mathematics, it was found out that such instruction had a moderate positive effect on students’ math achievement; slightly positive effect on problems-solving skills and attitude toward Mathematics and instruction; and great positive effect on attitudes toward computers [2].

Interactive Learning Materials (ILMs) are learning modules that are being developed to stimulate and engage student’s learning. ILMs can promote immediate feedback to the learners. In addition, it can support specific interaction between the software and the user, which can help save time and effort both for the students and the teacher [3]. Interactive learning can induce easier recognition and mastery of a specific topic. Lastly, interactive learning arouses student’s interest to listen and participate in class. Lastly, since the use of computers in high school is now indispensable, ILMs can easily be accessed making it convenient for the students.

This study aims to develop ILMs on sets, set relat ions and set operat ions as supplementary materials for teaching high school students. Specifically, it aims to:

1. develop ILMs on sets, set relations and set operations;

2. develop a learning material that is user- friendly and fun to use; and

3. evaluate the effectiveness of the learning modules.

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Three separate modules namely set, set relations and set operations were developed using PowerPoint presentat ion. Design templates, hyperlinks, and custom animations were used to achieve the desired interactive environment, as shown in Fig 1.

Fig 1. Sample Design Template of ILM

The discussions of ILMs were based on the Algebra and Trigonometry book of Louis Leithold [4].

A total of 62 students and 17 teachers were chosen as respondents for this study. The criteria used for evaluation were classified into three groups: a) clarity and organization, b) student learning, and c) design and operability. Clarity and organization determines the effectiveness of the ILMs as vital factors in the development of the learning modules. Student

Lynie Dimasuay and Chinen Aguna

The Twelfth International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society, 11-12 December 2015, Thailand 17.3

learning determines if the examples presented in the ILMs are enough for the students to learn and understand, if they can learn at their own pace, and if the exercises at the end can make understanding easier. Lastly, design and operability evaluates the over-all design and the ease of using the ILMs.

Likert scale was used to evaluate the students’ responses (1-strongly agree, 2- agree, 3-neither agree or disagree, 4-disagree, and 5-strongly disagree) while the four-point scale was used to evaluate the teachers’ responses.

Statistical analysis was done by calculating the weighted mean of the responses in each criterion and by Mann- Whitney test. All data were run using SPSS software. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Respondents Profile 1) Students: Table I shows that there are

31 students from Christ ian School International (CSI) and Maquiling School Incorporated (MSI) who were requested to utilize the ILMs and to answer the evaluation form.

TABLE I SCHOOLS OF STUDENT RESPONDENT

School Frequency %

CSI 31 50 MSI 31 50

TOTAL 62 100

2) Teachers: A total of 17 teachers evaluated the ILMs, as shown in Table II. They are composed of 6 (35%) faculty members from Los Baños National High School (LBNHS), 5 (29%) from Judge Feliciano Belmonte Sr. High School (JFBSHS), 3 (18%) from University of the Philippines Rural High School (UPRHS), 2 (12%) from University of the Philippines (UPLB), and 1 (6%) from School of Saint Anthony (SSA). Most of the teachers have been teaching Grade 7 students.

TABLE II SCHOOLS OF TEACHER

RESPONDENTS

School Frequency % LBNHS 6 35 JFBSHS 5 29 UPRHS 3 18 UPLB 2 12 SSA 1 6

TOTAL 17 100 Table III shows that most of the teacher

respondents have ages between 32-36 (47%), followed by ages 27-31 (35%) and the least is between ages 22-26 (18%).

TABLE III

AGES OF TEACHER RESPONDENTS

Age Frequency % 32-36 8 47 27-31 3 18 22-26 6 35

TOTAL 17 100

As shown in Table IV, 8-10 years (41%) has the highest frequency of teaching experience since most of the respondents have 32-36 years of age. Meanwhile, 5-7 years (24%) of teaching experience has the least frequency.

TABLE IV

YEARS OF TEACHING OF TEACHER RESPONDENTS

Years Frequency % 2-4 6 35 5-7 4 24 8-10 7 41

TOTAL 17 100

B. Evaluation of ILMs using the Weighted Means

Recorded frequencies in each category were used in computing for the weighted mean values to aid in the analysis of the obtained response. For the computed average of the students’ responses, it was shown in Table 5 that the values obtained for clarity and organization were 1.43 and 1.62 for CSI and MSI respectively. Such values show that respondents from CSI strongly agreed and respondents from MSI agreed that the

Interactive Learning Materials (ILMs) as Supplement for Teaching High School Students in the Philippines

The Twelfth International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society, 11-12 December 2015, Thailand 17.4

developed learning objects were clear and organized. With computed averages of 1.56 and 1.79 for the student learning group, it was also shown that the students from both CSI and MSI respectively have agreed that the learning materials were good for student learning. For the design and operability, results concluded that both students from both schools still have strongly agreed that the learning materials that was developed was well-designed and has good operability with a computed average of 1.37 and 1.42 for CSI and MSI respectively.

TABLE V

WEIGHTED MEAN VALUES OF THE STUDENT RESPONDENTS

Criterion Weighted Mean CSI MSI

Clarity and Organization 1.43 1.62

Student Learning 1.56 1.79

Design and Operability 1.37 1.42

Meanwhile, Table VI shows the weighted

mean values of the teachers’ responses on the three criteria. They rated strongly agree on clarity and organization (1.32) while responded agree for both student learning (1.62) and design and operability (1.60). All values imply good acceptance from teachers and that ILM is a useful tool for supplementary teaching and learning of students.

TABLE VI

WEIGHTED MEAN VALUES OF TEACHER RESPONDENTS

Criterion Weighted Mean

Clarity and Organization 1.32 Student Learning 1.62 Design and Operability 1.53

In addition, it was also determined how

useful the ILMs are to the teacher’s curriculum. It is shown in Table VII that the teachers agreed (1.65) that the ILMs are helpful materials for their lectures. Furthermore, they strongly agreed (1.47) that it is useful in teaching Grade 7 students. This

suggests that these ILMs can be used as their teaching materials.

TABLE VII

WEIGHTED MEAN VALUES OF TEACHER RESPONDENTS ON THE USEFULNESS OF ILM

Usefulness of ILM Weighted Mean I can use ILM in my lecture 1.65

ILM is useful in Grade 7 1.47

C. Evaluation of ILMs using Mann-Whitney Test

Mann-Whitney test was used to evaluate if there are significant differences in scoring tendencies between CSI and MSI students, and between students and teachers.

Fig. 2 shows that at p-value of .05, there is a significant difference between CSI and MSI students in the student learning category (p = 0.02). This implies that CSI students have a better understanding of the content of the ILM than MSI students. On the other hand, there is no significant difference observed in clarity and organization (p = 0.08) and design and operability (p = 0.56). This suggests that they are both satisfied in these two categories.

Fig 2. Bar Graph of the Weighted Means of the Student Respondents

Meanwhile, Fig. 3 shows the test of

significance between students’ and teachers’ responses among the three criteria. We can confidently say that responses of teachers do not significantly differ from the responses of students in terms of clarity and organization (p = 0.08), students learning (p = 0.35), and

Lynie Dimasuay and Chinen Aguna

The Twelfth International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society, 11-12 December 2015, Thailand 17.5

design and operability (p = 0.39). This denotes that both teachers and students find the ILMs helpful for the students’ learning.

Fig 3. Bar Graph of the Weighted Means of Teachers’ and Students’ Responses

IV. CONCLUSION

AND RECOMMENDATION

The ILMs were developed using the PowerPoint presentation. The animations used helped a lot in defining the concepts.

Students from CSI and MSI and selected teachers evaluated the ILM using criteria. Generally, obtained values for the computed average of the three groups gave high marks for both schools and for teachers. Hence, the evaluation of the developed learning object on sets, set operations and set relations can be considered a success. Consequently, the developed learning objects can be used as supplementary teaching material for the said topics.

In developing learning objects, it is best to use Macromedia Flash. Compared to PowerPoint presentation, flash does not have a “back” option unless you want it to. Moreover, ILM’s that are flash made makes less use of the keyboard. However, PowerPoint presentation is easy to handle.

The assessment parts that were incorporated in the modules make the ILMs interactive. After evaluat ion, some respondents recommended the addition of audio macros to

make the ILMs more exciting and interesting for the users

It was also suggested that the ILMs would be better if it contained not only a number of examples, but also quizzes for every discussion. The quiz portion should contain hints of how well the student is doing on the course of answering.

For the evaluation portion, it is also recommended that the researcher try to use different evaluation parameters like time frame and how interesting the modules are. The researcher may also try to conduct the implementation of ILMs in rural schools where technology is not fully accessible. Most importantly, both students and teachers should be tapped to evaluate when developing learning materials.

V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researcher would like to thank the people who participated in the surveys, especially to the teachers. Your comments and suggestions to improve these materials are very much appreciated.

REFERENCES

(Arranged in the order of citation in the same fashion as the case of Footnotes.)

[1] (2015). “The DepED website”. <www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/>.

[2] Lee, W.C. (1990). “The effectiveness of computer assisted instruction and computer programming in elementary and secondary mathematics”. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts.

[3] Gibbons, A.S., Nelson, J., and Richards, R. “The nature and origin of instructional objects”. In D. A. Wiley (Ed.), The instructional use of learning objects. Bloomington, IN: Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

[4] Leithold, L. (1989). “College Algebra and Trigonometry”. Philippines: Addison-Wesley.