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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presented a review of related literature and studies. It discussed

major insights and substances to further support the present investigation. This included

the discussion on game-based approach in teaching mathematics, mathematics, and

some factors contributing to it.

Related literature

Math learning difficulties

Math learning difficulties is a common and important problem among

students of all ages. According to Garnett (1998), many students face math

learning problems of different types; these learning difficulties range from mild to

severe, and require instructional attention and various treatment methods. Some

of the most common math learning problems include: (a) difficulty memorizing

basic number facts; (b) computational and arithmetic weakness; (c) confusion

about terminology and the written symbolic notation system of school math; and

(d) weak understanding of concepts due to visual-spatial organization deficits

(Garnett, 1998).

Apart from lower performance in math exercises and tests, these math

learning disabilities can also result in avoidance behavior and negative

perception of the particular subject.

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Mathematics anxiety

Students with math learning difficulties exhibit high math anxiety, which is

defined as “a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that interferes with math

performance” (Ashcraft, 2002). This math related problem was first reported by

Dreger and Aiken (1957), who noticed that students demonstrated emotional

reactions to arithmetic and mathematics.

According to their study, math anxiety is distinct from general anxiety, not

necessarily related to overall intelligence, and can contribute to poor

performance in mathematics. These findings were substantiated and reinforced

by more recent research (Richardson and Suinn, 1972; Tobias and Weissbroad,

1980; Wingfield and Meece, 1988; Ashcraft and Kirk, 2001), indicating that there

is a negative correlation between math achievement and math anxiety.

Effects of mathematics anxiety

One of the most detrimental consequences of math anxiety is that it can

lead to unfavorable attitude towards the particular subject, as well as negative

self-perceptions about one’s math abilities (Ashcraft, 2002). Consequently, highly

math-anxious students also tend to avoid enrollment in math-related courses, as

well as pursuing degrees or career paths based on mathematical or quantitative

skills (Hembree, 1990; LeFevre, Kulak and Heymans, 1992).

Hence, the educator should try to incorporate teaching methods that

emphasize the value of mathematics, help students develop their math skills, and

increase their self-efficacy beliefs (Meece, Eccles and Wingfield, 1990).

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Moreover, it is of utmost importance to help students acquire a positive

perception of mathematics, as this is considered to be highly related to lower

math anxiety and higher math achievement (Hembree, 1990).

Computer games

Computer games can increase students’ math achievement and

performance, and promote positive attitudes towards mathematics. For instance,

in a recent study, Pareto et al. (2011), created a teachable-agent arithmetic

game that aims in training basic arithmetic skills. The game was evaluated in a

study with 153 participants, consisting of 3rdand 5thgrade students. The results

indicate that the game helped students improve their math performance and self-

efficacy beliefs. Ahmad and Latih (2010) describe the development of an

educational math game on fractions for primary school students. Similarly, Lee

(2009) report on the creation and evaluation of an education game on fractions

and mention that it improved students’ understanding and performance.

Understanding mathematics

It is commonly agreed that learning with understanding is more desirable

than learning by rote. Understanding is described in terms of the way information

is represented and structured in the memory. A mathematical idea or procedure

or fact is understood if it is a part of an internal network, and the degree of

understanding is determined by the number and the strength of the connections

between ideas.
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When a student learns a piece of mathematical knowledge without making

connections with items in his or her existing networks of internal knowledge, he

or she is learning without understanding. Learning with understanding has

progressively been elevated to one of the most important goals for all learners in

all subjects. However, the realization of this goal has been problematic,

especially in the domain of mathematics where there are marked difficulties in

learning and understanding. The experience of working with learners who do not

do well in mathematics suggests that much of the problem is that learners are

required to spend so much time in mathematics lessons engaged in tasks which

seek to give them competence in mathematical procedures.

This leaves inadequate time for gaining understanding or seeking how the

procedures can be applied in life. Much of the satisfaction inherent in learning is

that of understanding: making connections, relating the symbols of mathematics

to real situations, seeing how things fit together, and articulating the patterns and

relationships which are fundamental to our number system and number

operations. Other factors include attitudes towards mathematics, working

memory capacity, extent of field dependency, curriculum approaches, the

classroom climate and assessment. In this study, attitudes, working memory

capacity and extent of field dependency will be consideredOnwumere,

Onyebuchi (2009).

Positive attitude towards mathematics learning

Most of the students showed a positive attitude towards mathematics

learning. For instance, they agreed that one should read the textbook on top of
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listening to the teacher in class. They also thought that understanding teacher’s

explanation and the mathematics concept behind were important. They believed

that just coping with the examination was not enough and that mathematics is a

subject that requires thinking. Many students opted for teachers assigning

exercises outside the textbook and did not wish to have less homework. They

believed that those good in mathematics took a greater initiative in learning and

did not confine their practices to homework (Cheng & Wong, 1991).

Mathematics education

MacNab (2000) said that thinking mathematically is more important than

mathematical knowledge, and mathematics education thus needs an emphasis

on real-life contexts. MacNab also stated that the lack of interest and the nonuse

of real-life settings are common reasons for the differences in performance in

mathematics between the United States and other countries. Teaching

strategies, flow of learning mathematics, and active engagement can all make a

great difference in students’ mathematics achievement (MacNab, 2000).

Mathematics is often seen as a very difficult subject in which motivational

factors are particularly important for the enhancement of learning. Prior research

has suggested that, compared to other subjects, there is a relatively strong

relationship between interest and achievement in mathematics.(Kolleret al.,

2001, p. 452)

Videogames and the development of logical-mathematical intelligence

Logical-mathematical intelligence is the capability associated with

subjects/students’ logical and mathematical organization processes, as well as

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with their scientific skills, especially linked to visual-spatial intelligence (Antunes,

2011). Applying the Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 2012), makes it

possible to integrate videogames into the school curriculum with a view to

boosting the different intelligences in an interrelated way (Sánchez, Álvarez,

Dávila, &Mellado, 2017; Alfageme& Sánchez, 2002), since such digital games

combine visual and spatial aspects with interactive elements.

Therefore, work on logical-mathematical intelligence necessarily must be

based on the development of mathematical thinking and logical reasoning

(Amstrong, 2009). Both aspects can be stimulated by means of numbers but also

through classifications and the hierarchical organization of elements.

Mathematical game

When considering the use of games for teaching mathematics, educators

should distinguish between an 'activity' and a 'game'. Gough (1999) states that a

'game' needs to have two or more players, who take turns, each competing to

achieve a 'winning' situation of some kind, each able to exercise some choice

about how to move at any time through the playing.

The key idea in this statement is that of 'choice'. In this sense, something

like Snakes and Ladders is NOT a game because winning relies totally on

chance. The players make no decisions, nor do that have to think further than

counting. There is also no interaction between players - nothing that one player

does affects other players' turns in any way.

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Games in Mathematical Education

Use of games in teaching mathematics is considered a best practice

(Moore, 2012) that is recognized by students as making mathematics more

meaningful (Miller, 2009). Games encourage logico-mathematical thinking

facilitate the development of mathematical knowledge while having a positive

influence on the affective component of learning situations (Booker, 2000), and

have a positive effect on students’ interest and motivation (Bragg, 2007).

For example, teachers using commercial games to increase

understanding of algebra, spatial sense, and multistep problem solving found that

students were highly motivated and engaged during game playing

(Lach&Sakshaug, 2005). Computer technology has allowed simple mathematical

games to become more customized, variable, and personal. This variability has

allowed games to become more effective in exposing students to more problems

per day than simple worksheets allowed (Lee, 2004), in addition to providing

immediate feedback and appropriate follow on problems.

Attitudes and School Grades

Nicolaidou and Philippou (2003), showed that negative attitudes are the

result of frequent and repeated failures or problems when dealing with

mathematical tasks and these negative attitudes may become relatively

permanent. According to these authors when children first go to school, they

usually have positive attitudes towards mathematics. However, as they progress

their attitudes become less positive and frequently become negative at high
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school. Köğce et al. (2009), found significant differences between younger and

older students’ attitudes towards mathematics with 8th graders having lower

attitudes than 6th graders.

There are a number of factors which can explain why attitudes towards

mathematics become more negative with the school grade, such as the pressure

to perform well, over demanding tasks, uninteresting lessons and less than

positive attitudes on the part of teachers.

.Related studies

Achievement in mathematics and attitudes

Several studies have been undertaken to try to reach an understanding of

the relationship between student attitudes towards mathematics and academic

achievement. In Ma and Kishor meta-analysis (1997), only weak correlations

between these variables were identified and these relationships were dependent

on several variables (e.g., grade, sample size, ethnic background). With regard

to grade, these associations become stronger among older students (7th to 12th

grade).

However, more recent studies point to a positive correlation between

student attitudes towards mathematics and student academic achievement.

Along these lines are the results obtained by Nicolaidou and Philippou (2003),

which reveal significant correlations between attitudes and performance.

Students having positive attitudes achieved better. Mato and De La Torre (2010),

in a study with secondary school students also showed that those with better
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academic performance have more positive attitudes regarding math than those

with poorer academic performance. These results were confirmed in wider

research, concerning math study attitudes among the secondary school students

of nine countries, developed by Sanchez et al. (2004).

Student evaluation of mathematical explanations in an inquiry-based

mathematics classroom

Students do not always evaluate explanations based on the

mathematics despite their teacher's effort to be the guide-on-the-side and

delegate evaluation to the students. This case study examined how the

use of three features of the Discourse—authority, sociomathematical

norms, and classroom mathematical practices—impacted students'

evaluation and contributed to students' failure to evaluate. By studying

three pre-service elementary school students' evaluation methods, it was

found that the students applied different types of each of the features of

the Discourse and employed them at different times.

The way that the features of the Discourse were used contributed

to some of the difficulties that the participants experienced in their

evaluation of explanations. The results suggest that researchers in the

field must come to believe that resistance to teaching methods is not the

only reason for student failure to evaluate mathematical explanations and

that authority is operating in the classroom even when the teacher is

acting as the guide on the side. The framework developed for the study
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will be valuable for researchers who continue to use for their investigation

of individual student's participation in mathematical activity (Hulet 2015).

Problems faced by reform oriented novice mathematics teachers utilizing a

traditional curriculum

Task-based instruction has been a promising method of instruction

advocated by mathematics education researchers over the past twenty years.

However traditional curricula constitute a majority of the curricula utilized in the

United States. The purpose of this study is to identify the problems reform

oriented novice teachers face when utilizing a traditional curriculum to plan task-

based lessons. In order to identify these problems three novice teachers'

interactions with curricula were observed and characterized using the

frameworks of past researchers.

Through analysis of teachers' textbook interaction practices it was found

that teachers struggled to plan task-based lessons due to issues encountered

finding/constructing mathematical tasks, and due to problems associated with

being naturally oriented toward procedures while utilizing a traditional curriculum

(Winiecke 2015).

The Effect of Students' Mathematical Beliefs on Knowledge Transfer

Students learn many different concepts throughout their mathematical

careers. In order to be successful in mathematics, students should be able to

transfer these mathematical concepts learned in one situation and apply them to
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a new situation. There are many factors that might affect how students transfer

knowledge; however research has focused mostly upon cognitive factors, even

though affective factors might also exhibit a strong influence. This study

examined how students' mathematical beliefs, specifically beliefs about

mathematics education and self-efficacy, affect the transfer process. Data were

collected from three middle school students.

These data were collected through in-class observations, students' written

work, and student interviews. The analysis of this data has shown that students'

beliefs about mathematics education can affect specific steps in the transfer

process as well as the transfer process in general. The data also showed that

self-efficacy can influence the transfer process, but that this influence is mediated

by the students' other mathematical beliefs (Adams 2014).

Mathematics Teacher Time Allocation

This study was conducted in order to determine how mathematics

teachers allocate their time in the classroom and the factors that influence

teacher priorities in that time allocation. Research has indicated that math

teachers may choose not to do certain activities in their classroom because of

the amount of time that they take, but other underlying reasons may exist. There

is variation in time allocation and influencing factors based on a teacher's

schedule, level of teaching, experience, and how student-centered their teaching

methods are.
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Also, the results support the claim that there are factors, other than limited

class time, that affect how teachers choose whether or not to do certain activities.

Some of the most significant deciding factors found are whether the activities will

help students with their end of level tests, if they will keep students working hard

mathematically, whether others are using those activities or not, how the

activities affect classroom rowdiness. It was also found that teachers who are

more teacher-centered tended to choose activities based on how easy they were

to implement, including their personal comfort level, ease of preparation, and

ease of management with student behavior. More student-centered teachers

tended to care more about keeping the students working hard mathematically

(Jones 2012).