Pupils’ Profiles of Social Media Usage in Mathematics with a Special Look at Facebook

Abstract

The presence of social media platforms in secondary students’ daily life is growing on but it may appear difficult to know which ones are more convenient for academia, particularly among secondary school pupils who are commonly substantial internet-based life clients. This study seeks to understand Zambian pupils’ profiles of social media usage, in particular, in mathematics learning environments, mainly focusing on Facebook. Primary data sources were collected using a validated questionnaire from 288 participants at Wusakile Secondary School in Kitwe comprising of Grade 11 and Grade 12 pupils. Results revealed that Facebook was the most widely used application and that there was no statistically significant difference in pupils’ mathematics Facebook usage based on gender while there was when considering grade level. Results also indicated that Grade 11 pupils’ mean scores for social media usage were higher than those from Grade 12 pupils. Finally, results show that in the absence of mathematics classroom instructions, some pupils are also having mathematics discussions outside the classroom by means of social media, particularly on Facebook, although this academic use is still far from being relevant.

Is social media use for math learning beneficial for ethnic minority students' math identity? A socialization perspective

“…While math identity is found to be influenced by ethnic minorities' bicultural identity integration and ethnic-math beliefs (Martin, 2000), social media use might be particularly helpful for ethnic minority students in developing their math identity (Marbán & Mulenga, 2022). Ethnic socialization occurs in wide social-cultural contexts (English-Clarke et al, 2012), often plagued by ethnic stereotypes and ensuing acculturative stress (McGee & Martin, 2011).…”

“…In the anonymous, inclusive and supportive environment facilitated by social media, ethnic minority students have the opportunity to selectively enrich their math experience, regulate their learning processes and foster connections with others (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012). This provides an avenue that creates and sustains adaptive social identities congruent with academic possible selves and further cultivates positive math identities (Marbán & Mulenga, 2022). Consequently, the following hypotheses were proposed: H5.…”

“…In addition, social media use for math learning could potentially provide emotional support to students, which can make them less vulnerable to setbacks and challenges in math learning, enhance their exposure to math‐related experiences, and nurture a positive math identity (Marbán & Mulenga, 2022). Extant literature has identified several benefits of social media use for emotional support, including round‐the‐clock availability, wide reach and diverse information from various networks (Liu et al, 2017).…”

“…Therefore, this study examined whether and how Chinese ethnic minority students' social media use for math learning might be associated with their math identity. Drawing on the socialization framework of math identity (Martin, 2000), we investigated how students' social media use for math learning (ie, utilization of social media websites and applications for the purpose of learning math; Marbán & Mulenga, 2022) related to their bicultural identity integration, ethnic‐math beliefs and math identity.…”

Chinese mathematics teachers’ use of digital technologies for instruction: A survey study

“…Each technology has inherent affordances and constraints. (Marbán & Mulenga, 2022;Mulenga & Marbán, 2020). The use of various types of technology in mathematics teaching suggests that it is necessary to consider a wide range of technologies when surveying the landscape of technology usage in mathematics teaching particularly in the post-pandemic era.…”