Relevancy of Online Classes in Mathematics Education

Abstract

This research study entitled Relevancy of Online Classes in Mathematics Educationwas carried out to identify the views of students on relevance of online classes in mathematics education. The main objective of this study was to analyze student's barriers to online learning in mathematics education in the context of Nepal andto analyze the opportunities that students entertain while taking online class in mathematics education. The sample was 100 Students for questionnaire and 10 students for interview they were studying at first and fourth semesters of master degree in mathematics education during academic year 2077 at Tribhuvan University. The questionnaires and interview were used for the collection of data containing close-ended and open ended questions. The Campus and the students were selected by usingprobability proportional sampling procedure. The collected data were analyzed by descriptively and statistically. Statistical tools such as measures of frequency and percentile, mean, standard deviation, chi-square test, t-test and chart bar graph were used to analyze and interpret data. When collecting the responses from interview was recorded then the data were scrutinized in general and transcribed under different headings. After that, the sub-headings for data analysis were developed and the data were analyzed descriptively. The researcher found the Barriers faced by students while they taking Online class are unstable network, lack of Motivation, lack of technical knowledge, notification distraction and useless notification, shortage of devices, unnecessary advertisement, expensive, Learner's capability & confidence level, Time Management, Distractions, frustration, anxiety & confusion, lack of personal/physical attention and complexity. The most frequent barrier respondents noted was the lack of reliable internet at home and the opportunities entertain students while taking online class are Time flexibility, Location flexibility, Scope for Innovation & digital development, wide availability of courses & content, immediate feedback, with no boundaries and self-learning are the opportunities while students taking online class of mathematics education In the conclusion the opportunities of online class outweigh the barriers that students face. Online class provides great opportunity for universities in developing countries to improve their teaching and learning processes. Moreover, the findings of this study states that master level students of mathematics education had positive opinion towards the online classes in mathematics education. From all the finding the researcher concludes that online class is relevant for the students of mathematics education in Tribhuvan University. The students recommended that the teachers need training on how to take online classes effectively. The barriers for the online teaching can be minimized if the teachers are trained for online education system.Online teaching education if integrated with traditional classroom lectures for selected topics could be beneficial to the students.Internet facility is necessary and should be improved to learn online in mathematics education effectively and Policy makers should provide additional planning time for students to experiment with new ICT-based approaches.