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Full Length Research Paper
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Enhancing students interest in mathematics via multimedia
presentation
Nwaocha Vivian Ogochukwu
School of
Science and Technology, National Open University of Nigeria,
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos State,
Nigeria. E-mail: webdevee@yahoo.com.
Accepted 11 May, 2010 |
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Abstract |
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Alarming statistics in mathematics education in Nigeria
indicated that very few or almost none of the students in high
school fancy taking up a course in mathematics in the
University. Moreover, less than ten percent of these students
enjoyed lessons in mathematics. Additionally, cultural and
racial prejudice as well as poverty are serious issues
confronting many of today's high school students, thus a set of
thirty numerical equations to solve would not be top priority.
Consequently, mathematics teachers have sought to determine how
they could possibly capture the attention of teens distracted by
serious problems and events in their daily lives. Although
educators have made some efforts towards improving these trends,
students’ disinterest in continuing mathematics study beyond
secondary school level is still a tremendous problem. In this
paper, student preference of multimedia presentation in
mathematics education as opposed to traditional instruction was
investigated for high school students learning mathematics. The
survey instrument presented a 5-point Likert scale with students
rating 17 statements associated with acceptance of the
presentation. Results from the survey carried out indicate that
multimedia presentations can improve students’ understanding,
enthusiasm, class attendance and satisfaction.
Key words:
Class, high school, instruction, interest, mathematics,
multimedia, student, teacher, traditional, University.
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