Using Computer Mediated Discussion Forum in Learning Mathematics

Abstract

Discussion is an important part in the learning process. This component is quite lacking in higher education of mathematics. At the university level, there are usually tutorial or discussion sessions for math courses. But in these sessions, other than a few good students, majority of the class tend to play a passive role with little participation in the discussion. One of the main reasons is the lack of confidence in students to communicate mathematical ideas. This forms a vicious circle as the less they speak up, the more they lost their confident. Some initial effort must be put in to turn the situation around. One way that the author has tried is to make use of computer mediated discussion forum. In this paper, the author will illustrate how computer mediated discussion forum can be used to encourage mathematics students to share their mathematical ideas and build up a discussion environment among them. The discussion forum tool used by the author is part of the online course management system known as IVLE (Integrated Virtual Learning Environment) developed by the National University of Singapore. The features of this tool will be introduced. The author has used the discussion forum for several years. He will describe how he has made use of the tool in teaching math courses and what the responses and comments of the students are. In particular, he will share his experience of using the forum as an assessment component in his courses. He will also discuss about the limitations and problems encountered in using the tool.