A case analysis of one stage six mathematics student in a tutoring intervention

Abstract

I have been tutoring mathematics and physics to students from high schools. I found that many of the students didn't understand the actual meaning of the mathematical content and were only concerned with the procedures of calculations. The purpose of this research is therefore to develop an effective practical scheme for the teaching of mathematics that integrates the researcher's tutoring experience with features attained from the existing theories of learning For many years, researchers have argued about the advantages and disadvantage of the two apparently opposite pedagogical approaches, namely, that of minimally guided instruction and direct instructional guidance. Few discuss the possibility of incorporating the advantages from both approaches This research study, attempts to take a careful step toward this challenging goal by working out a practical scheme that uses features attained from the two approaches mentioned above. During the review of the literature, a practical scheme that describes how a new concept or topic should be taught has slowly emerged. For convenience, the practical scheme will be called Simple Steps. The study will be carried out through the process of tutoring. Case studies will be used in this study making use of field notes and digital recorded sessions and interviews. The process consists of three stages. The intervention involves a topic from the stage 6 mathematics syllabus, which students usually find difficult or confusing, namely the topic of logarithmic function: y = logax. Stage 1 is the interview before the tutoring process. The purpose of the interview is to obtain information of the student's understanding of mathematics. The researcher will ask the student mathematics questions related to the basic procedural understanding of the topic. Stage 2 is the tutoring process. The researcher will use the principles of Simple Steps to improve the student's conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge of logarithms. Field notes will be kept and sessions recorded. It seeks to capture different aspects of the student's engagement and her/his understanding of mathematics. Stage 3 is the test after the tutoring followed by a feedback Interview, which will provide information about the effectiveness of Simple Steps in helping the student to understand mathematics concept. Finally, the student will be given a questionnaire to fill in, which allows the student to give a self assessment about her/his engagement during learning. There are a number of different pedagogical approaches to the teaching of mathematics. However, considerable dispute exists as to which one is the best. Some of the aspects of these pedagogical ideas will be investigated during this research. It will be hoped that the findings of this study will have the potential to inform the teaching of mathematics in a tutoring context

Date of Award	2011
Original language	English