Challenging primary school students’ attitude toward calculators

Calculators are a viable option for educational technology in developing countries due to its affordability and accessibility; it is also supported by literature to have positive effects on the students’ acquisition of mathematics concepts and skills positively. However, the stakeholders of education in Indonesia often stigmatize the use of calculators in mathematics classrooms, especially in primary school. This is in contrast with the policy of many developing countries which include calculator as one of the educational technologies to be used in the classroom. This study aims to investigate the effect of calculator-enhanced mathematics lessons on the attitude of primary school students’. Fourth-grade students (n = 95) in four separate schools with minimum calculator experience participated in this study. The questionnaire was administered before and after the lesson to record their attitude. The use of a well-established scale ensured validity, while the Cronbach-Alpha score confirmed reliability. Data analysis was conducted through the comparison of mean value between pre- and post-questionnaires scores. The finding suggests that while the effect on attitude toward mathematics is somewhat mixed, there is a significant improvement in the students’ attitude toward using calculators to learn mathematics. Calculator-enhanced mathematics lessons help the students foster more positive attitudes toward calculators. The finding of the present study is expected to help teachers to challenge the stigma about calculator and thus can benefit from calculator to enhance their lesson.

Gender and Attitudes toward Computers and Calculators: Their Relationship to Math Performance

In education, computers and calculators historically have been associated with mathematics and the sciences, and are frequently incorporated into these areas of the curriculum. This may have serious implications for females because of the long history of reported sex differences in achievement and attitudes in mathematics and related disciplines. This study of sixty high school students examines the relationship between mathematics performance and students' attitudes toward technology (computers and calculators), and whether the relationship is similar for males and females. A practice form of the General Educational Development (GED) test was used to measure mathematics performance. Students' attitudes toward computers were assessed by the Computer Attitude Scale, and attitudes toward calculators were assessed by a 4-item measure developed by the authors. In general, students with more positive attitudes toward computers and calculators were found to perform better than students with more negative attitudes.