Chapter 4: Results
4.3 Third Research Question
4.3.2 The Qualitative Part of the Perceptions Survey
variance, based on Levene's test of equality of variances (F = 0.093, P = 0.762) equal variances were assumed.
After testing all the assumptions, the independent t-test was performed, and its results are shown in the following Table 29.
Table 33: Comparison of perceptions about the MEP
Variable Female (N = 24) Male (N =27) T df P
M SD M SD
MEP perceptions 4.03 .74 3.74 0.84 1.306 49 .198 Table 33 above, shows that there was no statistically significant difference between female (M= 4.03, SD = .74) and male students (M= 3.74, SD = .84) on program evaluation (df = 49, t = 1.306, p > .05). The researcher failed to reject the null hypothesis. This indicates that female and male students are roughly holding the same perceptions about MEP.
Table 34: Positive Vs. Negative responses by gender
Positive Vs. Negative Responses N %
All students
Positive 42 82.4 Negative 9 17.6 Total 51 100.0 Female students
Positive 21 87.5 Negative 3 12.5 Total 24 100.0 Male students
Positive 21 77.8 Negative 6 22.2 Total 27 100.0 Table 34 shows that students generally viewed the program as positive and that the biggest source of this positivity was the female students. The students reported 42 (82.4%) positive comments towards the program versus 9 (17.6%) negative comments.
Patterns formed naturally while reviewing responses to the first open-ended question explaining students' feelings about the program. All student comments had been reviewed and then classified. Tables 35 and 36 represent the general positive and negative themes respectively, with some examples of comments representing most of the groups.
Table 35: Positive trends of students’ comments Theme N Examples of positive comments
1-Understanding 14 “Yes, it helped me to understand school topics.”
“I understood the mathematics concepts better and differently, now I got it.”
“The time taken from class to study this program was good, I used the program information in the mathematics periods.”
“It broadens my understanding of mathematics.”
2-Mathematics in life
6 “This program makes me see the importance of mathematics in life and not to study only equations.”
“It showed me applications of mathematics in life.”
“It is very useful and could answer many questions in life.”
Table 35: Positive trends of students’ comments (Continued) Theme N Examples of positive comments
3-Preparing for PISA
6 “Yes, I think I can now take the PISA test well because I am the first time to know about it through the exercises of this program.”
“It helped me to know about PISA, I liked this kind of problems, it makes me feel like this is the real math not only the formulas that we learn and use.”
“Yes, it helped me a lot, for example, increased my self- confidence in solving math problems, and also helped me to know the way the questions of the PISA exams.”
4-Excitement 6 “It makes me excited about the tricks, I never thought of mathematics in this way.”
“It’s fun and makes me love math.”
“It was exciting, even when I don’t understand the meaning for every word in the question, I tried to understand the question and tried to solve it and I succeeded many times.”
5-Revision 3 “Yes, the revision part was very important because it is the basics that help in solving the story problems.”
“The program covered all mathematics we learned. “
“I liked it to make me revise previous math concepts.”
6-Discussion 2 “Some questions challenged me, I liked spending time discussing these questions with teacher and colleagues.”
“I am excited in these classes; I like the discussion with my teacher and friends.”
7-With no comments
5 “Yes.”
“Yes, it helped me. “ Total 42 positive comments
Table 35 displays trends in positive student comments and presents these comments in seven groups resulting in six themes. Students generally held positive impressions about the impact of the program. The most positive theme was
"understanding". Students reported 14 comments about the program indicating the
impact of this program in increasing their understanding of the curriculum. Three themes of the positive responses were on “Mathematics in Life”, “Preparing for PISA”
and “Excitement” with 6 positive comments each. The last two topics on "review" and
"discussion" were in 3 and 2 comments respectively, while 5 comments expressed students' positive feelings about the program without explanation.
Table 36: Negative trends of students’ comments Theme N Examples of negative comments
1-Time 3 “No, because time is not enough.”
“It is not part of the curriculum, why should we waste time.”
“It needs more effort and time because sometimes we don’t study the same things we study from the book.”
2-Language of
problem 3 “Not too much. I don’t understand the question, the words are very hard and make me feel nervous.”
“No, I don’t understand this kind of problems there are many difficult words.”
“No, I can’t understand these questions.”
3-Problem
solving skills 3 “I don’t like these questions; I can’t understand how to solve them.”
“I don’t like it because I don’t like this kind of math because I don’t know how to solve it.”
“I don’t like it because I don’t like story problems. it needs more efforts to understand what method to use to solve it.”
Total 9
Through the students ’response to the first open question about their feelings about the applied enrichment program, they indicated 9 negative comments that are mentioned in Table 36. These negatives responses were divided into three main themes: “Time”, “Language” and “Problem Solving”. The “Time” theme indicates that
students didn’t like deducting part from mathematics classes for the program implementation. The “language” theme mainly reflected the students feeling of the difficulty of words that results in a misunderstanding of the question. Some students were struggling in deciding how to solve the problems as presented in the “Problem Solving” theme.
The second open-ended question asked the students to explain “What can be done to improve this program?” Students’ suggestions are shown in Table 37 below.
Table 37: Improvement suggestions to MEP
Theme N Examples of improvement suggestions to MEP 1-Time 16 “I liked the way the teacher discusses the program
lessons so providing more time is good to finish all the questions in the lesson with the teacher.”
“Make one period weekly for these problems.”
“Not to use the period time, or make it an official part of the curriculum.”
“Add specific lessons for PISA problems in the school timetable.”
2-Official curriculum
9 “A formal addition of the PESA exam questions method for mathematics, as it is taught within the mathematics curriculum in schools.”
“Make it a regular part of the curriculum.”
“I think this program should be used with all classes not only grade 10 because it is useful in understanding what mathematics is used for.”
3-Language 6 “I liked the way the teacher discusses the program lessons so providing more time is good to finish all the questions in the lesson with the teacher.”
“Make one period weekly for these problems.”
“Not to use the period time, or make it an official part of the curriculum.”
“Add specific lessons for PISA problems in the school timetable.”
Table 37: Improvement suggestions to MEP (Continued) Theme N Examples of improvement suggestions to MEP 4-
Assessment
5 “Make more time for the program and make extra marks for the solution of problems.”
“Despite it motivates us to learn better, I think you need to make exams because we study if we have an exam.”
“No need to have this program there are no marks for it so why should we study it?”
5-Flipped classroom
4 “Let the students prepare and come later to discuss.”
“PISA sometimes is applied online. So, if this program is made online and the students can use it
independently then discuss with the teacher.”
“If the teacher gave us the problems to prepare at home this gives us the chance to prepare and be more
engaged in the discussion.”
6-Revision 3 “Increase the revision part because it was very important and helped me.”
“Increase the revision part.”
“We can add the number of revision lessons to take this program.”
7-No suggestions
8
Total 51
There was nothing better than seeking assistance from students who had undergone the implementation of the enrichment program to present their suggestions for developing the program. The students’ suggestions for improvements were in six themes. The largest share of suggestions went for “Time” with 16 suggestions. Some students were not satisfied with taking periods of math to implement the program and suggested making a special time for the program. In addition, they suggested more
time to discuss all the problem solving provided in the program. Other students 'suggestions weren't in Table 37, however, the students' ideas were all about adding extra time above math classes. As for the second theme of the students ’suggestions, it revolved around nine suggestions that focused on making a formal addition to the enrichment program subject to mathematics curricula. Moreover, students requested that this program be applied to all grades. The students’ six suggestions about language were centered on using easier language. Then students focused on the assessment noting the importance of testing students' knowledge and making it accountable because students would make no effort if the program was not counted in their homework. There were four other suggestions regarding providing students with enrichment materials in advance and giving students time to prepare by using their own time as an indicator of the flipped classroom. Finally, three students' suggestions were to increase the review portion of MEP.