Development of a Web-based e-Learning Package for Additional Mathematics in Malaysian Secondary School

Abstract

Currently, teaching and learning of Mathematics in Malaysian secondary schools depends mainly on the conventional methods, PowerPoint presentations and occasionally the use of ICT. The current trend in education is the development of web-based e-learning to complement the traditional approaches. Web-based e-learning benefits both the teachers and students by providing flexibility in learning and evaluation of learning outcomes. In Malaysia, web-based e-learning has been successfully adopted by many institutions of higher learning. However, the implementation of web-based e-learning for mathematics is still rare in the secondary schools.

This is a collaborative project between Sains Alam Shah Secondary School and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. The authors have developed an Additional Mathematics web-based e-learning package for the upper secondary schools in Malaysia. This package includes learning and discussion modules, evaluation module, organizer and calendar for planning of learning schedules. It also includes educational advertisements to supplement the operating cost of the web-based e-learning. Different levels of accessibility rights can be set for different users. Mainly there are 3 levels of users : Administrators, Teachers and Students. Teachers can pose questions from the question bank available or can create/edit their own question banks. They can also share the question banks with other teachers. An Add Web module link PowerPoint presentations, video clips, word documents and internet to the existing web-based content thus providing a vital link to the traditional teaching materials. A chapter in Form 4 Additional Mathematics – Functions, is used to demonstrate the features of the developed w-based e-learning package. The package has been carried out in Sains Alam Shah Secondary School to investigate its practicality. A survey has been done to find out the response of the students towards the developed web-based e-learning package. Post test and pretest were carried out to validate the effectiveness of the web based e-learning package.