| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is a case study conducted in the first year of engineering studies at the University of Agder. The course observed is physics, where the software SimReal+ is integrated into the teaching. The study focuses the mathematical part of the course related to differentiation and integration. In my study, I focus on both the lecturer and students taking the course. The study examines the teacher-orchestrations that can be identified in lectures and exercises, and perceptions students have related to the usefulness of SimReal+ and some teacher-orchestrations. My research questions are:
1. What types of teacher-orchestrations can be identified by the use of SimReal+ in mathematics education?
2. How do students perceive the usefulness of SimReal+ in learning mathematics?
To investigate these research questions I have used a theoretical perspective consisting of two parts: First, instrumental approach and Drijvers 'orchestration model for observing teacher-orchestrations of lectures and exercises over a period of four weeks. Secondly, I used criteria related to usefulness of ICT tools. These are: Technical usefulness, pedagogical usefulness, usefulness of teacher's orchestrations and mathematical usefulness. I have used qualitative (interview) and quantitative (online survey) methods to examine students' perceptions related to the usefulness of SimReal + and some individual teacher-orchestrations.
During the observation period, I have observed a total of 13 different orchestrations, eight in lectures and five in exercises: Traditional teaching with whiteboard / projector without SimReal+, Technical demo, Video simulation with SimReal+, Link-screen board, Discuss-the-screen, Explain the screen, Exercises with SimReal+, Use of other ICT tools and whiteboard, Individual Guide-and-explain, Individual Technical support, Individual Discuss-the-screen, Individual Technical demo and group work with classmates on SimReal+ tasks. The findings show that traditional teaching with whiteboard / projector without SimReal+ is the most used teacher-orchestration (41.8%), followed by Individual Guide-and-explain (10.60%), Individual Technical Support (7.55%), Individual Discuss-the-screen (6.97%) and technical-demo (6.31%).
Regarding technical usefulness, the findings show that it is difficult to navigate through the menus of SimReal+. It is also pointed out that the user interface can be cumbersome. This may indicate that the teacher-orchestration technical demo should play a greater role in classroom at the start of the course. In terms of mathematical usefulness, a slight majority of the students believe that SimReal+ is useful when learning differentiation and integration. Some of the students' responses to interviews indicate that SimReal+ can provide a deeper understanding of differentiation and integration, and that this could be useful. SimReal+ appears to play a greater role when the students learn about rotations, vectors, particles in motion and velocity and acceleration vectors of particles in motion. Related to pedagogical usefulness, a small majority of the students believe that they will be more motivated to work with mathematics due to the variation in working methods SimReal+ offers, but it does not seem that SimReal+ offers more interaction and discussion in class.
The Overall findings indicate that SimReal+ is a potentially useful ICT tool for teaching and learning mathematics in higher education. There are possibilities for improving the software, specifically related to the technical aspect, which is a prerequisite for the pedagogical and mathematical usefulness. If the user interface is improved and it is used more time on technical demonstration in class, it is conceivable that more students will experience SimReal+ as helpful in the learning of mathematics. | nb_NO |
