Mathematics Education Students’ Experiences during Lockdown: Managing Collaboration in eLearning

Abstract

The current world crisis of COVID-19 has enforced international lockdowns in educational institutions, necessitating that these institutions quickly transition to online learning. In mathematics education studies, where collaborative problem-solving is considered a necessary pedagogical approach, lecturers have had challenges incorporating collaborative problem-solving in an authentic manner. There are now also complex living and learning contexts in which the students have to undertake their learning processes. This paper examines students’ experiences of the rapid transition to online learning and their perceptions of the advantages and barriers that ensued. A small comparative case study was used to explore the complexity of the situation, within rich, authentic settings. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used. The participants found that personal circumstances related to having children and partners at home while they studied, and aspects such as not interacting directly with other students to clarify and mediate their thinking, led to major initial frustrations with collaborating. While some of these continued throughout lockdown they did adjust and recognize that the advantages, such as a mix of formal and informal digital pedagogical media, gave them greater flexibility and led to deeper reflective thinking. We contend that some elements related to the adaptions made should become permanent features of face-to-face learning.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Teaching Mathematics and Students’ Knowledge, Skills, and Grades

“…The main focus is accented on the psychological effects of the pandemic on students and teachers and their overall readiness to change education [26,27].…”

Higher Education Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning during COVID-19—A Comparative Study

“…Several case studies were conducted [18][19][20] but these, too, focused on specific departments or modules within a university. Both qualitative [21,22] and quantitative research [8,[23][24][25][26] was conducted, both in developing [27][28][29][30], and developed countries [31][32][33] as well as in post-communist countries [34,35].…”

The academic impact of online mathematics learning during COVID-19 for junior high school students

“…Carrying out face-to-face mathematics learning means that they need the role of the teacher directly in learning. Mathematics learning conducted online will certainly reduce students opportunities to learn mathematics with their peers (Kalogeropoulos et al, 2021) because the interactions that occur between students are limited (Calder et al, 2021) and also the lack of interaction between students and teachers (Fauzy & Nurfauziah, 2021). Students need the direct role of the teacher in learning so that students will feel more comfortable and feel that they receive direct guidance and direction from the teacher in studying the material.…”

“…The type of interaction that is somewhat limited is the interaction between students and students (Fauzy & Nurfauziah, 2021;Kalogeropoulos et al, 2021) and students and teachers (Thanji & Vasantha, 2018). In online learning, discussions between students are very limited (Calder et al, 2021).…”