An investigation and comparison on Chinese and English Teachers' use of technology in teaching mathematics

Abstract

This study investigates Chinese and English secondary teachers’ use of technology in their teaching of mathematics from a comparative perspective. The purpose of the study is three-fold. Firstly, it identifies what technologies (hardware, software and online resources) are used by mathematics teachers; secondly, it examines how these technologies are used in teaching practices; and thirdly, it investigates what factors influence teachers’ use of technologies in their teaching of mathematics.

The study applied mix-methods with three instruments for collecting data from Chinese and English secondary school mathematics teachers: questionnaire, classroom observation, and interview. 229 valid questionnaires from China and 119 from England are obtained and eleven teachers (6 in China and 5 in England) are observed the classroom teaching and interviewed.

The results reveal that for hardware, computer and data-projector are the most commonly used devices by Chinese teachers, followed by calculators and interactive whiteboards (IWBs), while the mobile phone is the least used facility. For English teachers, calculator, computer and IWB are the most commonly used devices, while the smart phone and other hardware (including the projector) are least used ones.

For software, Microsoft office packages (i.e. Word, Excel and PowerPoint) are most frequently used by teachers in both countries, followed by Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP) for Chinese teachers, and GeoGebra and Autograph for English teachers, and these dynamic geometry software are adopted in the teaching of geometry. However, data analysis software is used by only around 5% of Chinese teachers, and none English teachers used data analysis software.

As regards online resources, both Chinese and English teachers use different online resources in their teaching practices, including search engines (mainly Baidu for Chinese, and Google for English), subject-based websites, download pictures and videos, and content-specific interactive programs. Besides, Chinese teachers usually use local instant information exchange packages (such as QQ and Wechat) to share and collect teaching materials in their daily works. For influential factors, the study constructed multilevel models and shows that school facility and resource; school support; teachers’ knowledge and teachers’ skill are four significant factors in both countries. Assessment requirement has been found by interviews as another important factor influencing teachers of both countries of their use of technology. In addition, training and professional activity are influential in China, while in England, teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and attitudes, and students play important roles.

Based on the findings, comparisons of Chinese and English secondary mathematics educations are made, and then recommendations for practitioners and policy makers are provided.

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