CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Mathematics is challenging subject for most secondary and tertiary school

students. Students need to pass several high stakes tests in math in order to

graduate students are allowed to use calculators on taking their exam. But the big

question that faces mathematics teachers is how to best utilize calculators use in

the classroom to promote learning.

Since its invention over thirty years ago, the electronic calculator has evolved

from a machine that could only perform simple for function operation (addition,

subtraction, multiplication, division) into one that can now also execute highly

algebraic symbolic manipulations instantly and accurately. Each new generation of

calculators build on the previous one that heightened speed and more advance

capabilities . At the same time, the cost of a basic calculator as dropped has so

low that virtually every household can afford at least one.

Calculators allow students access to mathematical concepts and experiences

from which they were previously limited with only paper and pencil tests. Because

calculators make possible mathematical exploration, experimentation, and

enhancement of learning mathematical concepts, the National Council of Teachers

of Mathematics (NCTM) and various other organizations and individuals

recommend that appropriate calculators be made available for use by students at

every grade level from kindergarten through college. Despite the extensive

research documenting the benefits of calculators use, there are still many sceptics

who worry that calculators use real impair students mathematical ability and result

in increase mathematical illiteracy. (NCTM,1991)

The reality, however, is that calculators are valuable educational tools that

allow students to reach a higher level of mathematical power and understanding.

By reducing the time that, in the past, was spent on learning and performing

tedious paper-and-pencil arithmetic and algebraic algorithms, calculators use

today allows students and teachers spend more time developing mathematical

understanding, reasoning number sense, and application. For functions, scientific,

and graphing calculators, as well as , calculators with computer symbolic algebra

manipulation capability provide new pedagogical enhancement opportunities.

They afford students learning tools that complement that do not replace, mental

and paper-and-pencil skills, and they expand students’ ability to solve problems by

providing multiple solution techniques (NCTM, 1987).

Rote computations and exhausting algebraic manipulations have historically

turned many students away from mathematics. The subject of mathematics has

traditionally been thought of us memorizing formulas and substituting numbers

and equations, drilling and endlessly, and performing long, monotonous

computations. The students could perform this manipulations and computations

quickly and accurately were considered to be mathematically inclined; those who

were turned off by the who would ordinarily be frustrated or bored by this tedious

manipulations to have access to the real mathematics itself, thus gaining a higher

level of mathematical understanding, rather than giving up. The fact is, calculators

are better tools to do some of the computations and manipulations that were once

done with paper-and-pencil test. In the past, paper-and-pencil were the only tools

available. Appropriate use of technology and associated and pedagogy will get

more students thinking and reasoning mathematically. Thus, more people will

develop useful mathematical understanding and mathematical power. (Suydam,

1982).

Calculators now come in a number of sized and styles, and they cover

tremendous range of capabilities, functions and prices. Despite the myths of

harmful consequences resulting from their use, calculators are pedagogical tool of

great value. Teachers of different grade levels and general public harbor varying

preconceived beliefs as far as the use of calculators in the classroom is concerned.

Calculators serve as an equalizer in mathematics education. Not only do they allow

students who would ordinarily be turned off by traditionally mathematics’ tedious

computations and algorithms to experience true mathematics, but they also help

students to more quickly and readily develop number sense, gain mathematical

insight and reasoning skills, value mathematics, and cultivate mathematical

understanding, while they enjoy what they are learning.

Review of Related Literature

 The debate over calculators in the classroom will continue even as new

research becomes available. Since the debate is more focused on how much

calculators should be used, rather than whether they are to be used at all, makes

interpreting the data very subjective. This gives both sides cause to continue their

own crusades for or against calculators. With mathematics, sometimes being a

difficult subject, being able to use a calculator is very appealing for many. Instead

of memorizing lists of formulas, the student can just enter the numbers and

operations into the calculator and it will do the work (Lockhart, 2008).

Those who favor calculators recognize how much more material is covered in

the classroom because of the use of calculators. Without calculators, it can be

difficult to address more complex mathematical materials. Because of calculators,

concepts and relationships never before covered in school are now available to

students (IBM,2008). In addition, students are not restricted by the time it takes to

perform long calculations. They can perform those calculations and move on to

other parts of the problem. This allows more material to be taught and more time

to be spent teaching concepts to students. Although the use of calculators can

minimize or marginalize mathematics drills, it still allows for more coverage of

topics (Klein, 2003).

Opponents of calculators in the classroom take a more traditional approach to

teaching the subject. They advocate drills and repetition in teaching. By doing this,

the student will more likely reme mber the mathematics concepts and be able to

perform the calculations without the use of a calculator. Opponent believes these
skills will be more beneficial to the student and make them a better performer

overall (McCauliff, 2004).

Using calculators, according to the opponents, produces students who are

dependent on the calculators to perform basic mathematical operations. Without

the calculators, these students cannot pass mathematics tests that the generation

before them could (Lightner, 1999). Opponents argue that the students are

allowed to not be as smart in mathematics because they have calculators , there

are still many situations where either a calculator is not to solve a problem, or the

problem cannot be solved even with a calculator because the students does does

not truly grasp the mathematical concept that is needed.

Regardless of either opinion, calculators are in the classroom. What educators

need to determine is the extent to which calculators can and should be used in the

classroom, such that the students will still fully understand and be able to utilize

the fundamentals of mathematics. Many more developments in the field of

mathematics have been made. Mathematics is applied to most of Science.

Scientists have found that mathematics has proven crucial in the field of chemistry,

astronomy, and physics. Along with reading, mathematics has become the

foundation of all learning.

Statement of the Problems

 The study aims to find-out the role of calculators on the 1st year students in

Trigonometry of Pangasinan State University – Asingan Campus.

Specifically, the study will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following:

a. Age

b. Sex

c. Socio-economic status

2. What is the extent of awareness of the students in the use of a calculators?

3. What is the level of skills in trigonometry of the 1st year students ?

4. Is there any significant difference between the skills of the students who

use calculator and who do not use calculators in trigonometry?

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The research study focuses on the role of calculators in the classroom

affecting the performance of the students in problem solving. The respondents

of the study are composed of sixty two (62) 1st year students in Pangasinan

State University- Asingan Campus, 2nd semester, A. Y. 2016-2017.

The researchers consider working on this study to find out the helpful and

harmful effects of using calculators in solving trigonometric problems.

Conceptual Framework

The study was conceptualized after a thorough review of the related literature

and studies. Studies were conducted to determine the awareness of the students
in the use of calculators. It is believe that level of skills of the students in

Trigonometry depends whether they use calculators or if they do not use

calculators in a test.

Based on the foregoing literature and studies, paradigm was structured as in

figure 1. The paradigm depends on the relationship between dependent and

independent variables of the study. It shows that the profile (age, sex and socio

economic status).

Paradigm of the Study

In the preceding diagram, it can be hypothesized that:

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Profile of the Students

 Age

 Sex

 Socio economic Level of awareness in

Status using calculators

A paradigm is showing the Independent and Dependent Variables.

 CHAPTER 2

Research Methodology

This chapter presents the discussion on the methods of research in

making of this study. This includes the research design, sampling scheme, data

collection and data analysis.

Research Design

This study made use of descriptive correlation method of research. Descriptive

method was used to determine the profile of the respondents in terms of sex, age

and socio economic status.

The respondents of the study are the 1st year students in Trigonometry of

Pangasinan State University- Asingan Campus 2nd semester A.C. 2016-2017.

 The 1st year trigonometry student’s data contained students’ profile: such as

sex, age, and socio economic status. The data were obtained through survey

questionnaire conducted by the researchers.

The statistical tools that are used in describing data are frequency, percentage,

mode, and average weighted mean. Independent t-test is also use to compare the

means of the the respondents who use calculators and those who do not use

calculators in the test.

Sampling Scheme

The respondents of the study were the 1st year trigonometry students of

Pangasinan State University- Asingan Campus, second semester of the academic

year 2016-2017.

The respondents of the study were sixty two (62) officially enrolled 1st year

Trigonometry students of Pangasinan State University- Asingan Campus academic

year 2016-2017. Specifically distributed according to their course as follows:

BEE-1

BSE- 14

AIT/BIT- 47

Data Collection

Before collecting the, the researcher request permission to the subject

instructor for approval using the questionnaire in gathering the data of the
research. The researcher gathered the profile of the respondents and observes it’s

relation to the level of awareness of the students in the use of survey

questionnaire.

Likewise, the researcher personally distributes the questionnaire regarding

the level of awareness of the students in the use of survey questionnaire and as a

strategy to the respondents. After which, the researcher collected the

questionnaire and tabulated the research for computation, analysis and

interpretation.

A post test were also conducted in order to compare the skills of those who

use calculators and those who do not use calculators.

Data Analysis

The number 1 problem was answered using frequency and percentage to

determine the profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex and socio economic

status. Presented below the formula:

𝑓
%= X 100
𝑛

Where:
%= percentage

f= frequency

n= total number of respondents

To answer number 2 problem which is to determine the level of skills in

trigonometry 1st year students, frequency and percentage were used and the

data were interpreted based on the following scale used:

Scores Descriptive Equivalent

1-6 poor

7-12 fair

13-18 average

19-24 good

25-30 excellent

To answer number 3 problem which is the significant difference between the

skills of the students who use calculator and who do not use calculators in

trigonometry, independent t-Test were used.

 CHAPTER 3

RESULT OF THE RESEARCH

TABLE 1
 Profile of the First Year Students of Pangasinan State University-

Asingan Campus Second Semester S.Y. 2016-2017

Age. Based on the date presented on Table 1, there are thirty one (31) or fifty

(50) percent of the student-respondents has the age of 16-18 years old and thirty

Profile Variable Level Frequency Percent (%)

Age 16 below 0 0
16-18 31 50.0

Above 19 31 50.0

Sex Male 42 67.7

Female 20 32.3

Socio-economic Status Below Php 5,000 23 37.1

5,001-1000 pesos 21 33.9

10,001-15,000 pesos 10 16.1

15,000 pesos above 8 12.9

one (31) or fifty (50) percent has the age of 19 years old and above. This means

that there are equal distribution of age from 16-18 years old and 19 years old and

above from the first year students of Pangasinan State University-Asingan

Campus.
Sex. The table shows that there are forty two (42) or sixty seven point seven

(67.7) percent of the respondents were male and twenty (20) or thirty two point

three (32.3) of the respondents were female which means that there are more

male irst year students of Pangasinan State University-Asingan Campus

Socio-economic Status. The table shows that their twenty three (23) or thirty

seven point one (37.1) percent of students has a monthly income of Php5,000 and

below, twenty one (21) or thirty three point nine (33.9) percent has a monthly

income of Php 5,000 to Php 10,000, ten (10) or sixteen point one (16.1) percent

has a monthly income of Php 10,000 to Php 15,000 and eight (8) or twelve point

nine (12.9) has a monthly income of Php 15,000 and above. This means that most

of the students has an income of Php 5,000 and below.

TABLE 2

Level of skills in Trigonometry of the 1st year students of Pangasinan State

University- Asingan Campus Second Semester S.Y. 2016-2017

SCORES F % Descriptive
Equivalent

1-6 2 6.45 Poor

7-12 3 9.68 Fair

13-18 8 25.81 Average

19-24 12 38.71 Good

25-30 6 19.35 Excellent

 (without calculator)

Level of skills in Trigonometry. The table shows the level of skills of the 1st

year students who took the test without using the calculator in the subject

Trigonometry. Based on the data presented on Table 2, two (2) or sixty point forty

five (6.45) percent of the respondents got a score ranging from one (1) to six (6)

with descriptive equivalent of poor. Three (3) or nine point sixty eight percent

(9.68) of the respondents got a score ranging from seven (7) to twelve (12) with a

descriptive equivalent of fair. Eight (8) or twenty five point eighty one (25.81)

percent of the respondents got a score ranging from thirteen (13) to eighteen (18)

with a descriptive equivalent of average. Twelve (12) or thirty eight point seventy

one (38.71) percent of the respondents got a score ranging from nineteen (19) to

twenty four (24) with a descriptive equivalent of good. Six (6) or nineteen point

thirty five (19.35) percent of the students got a score ranging from twenty five (25)

to thirty (30) with a descriptive equivalent of excellent.

TABLE 3

Level of skills in trigonometry of the 1st year students of Pangasinan State

University- Asingan Campus Second Semester S.Y. 2016-2017

(with calculator)

SCORES F % Descriptive
 Equivalent

1-6 - - Poor

7-12 - - Fair

13-18 - - Average

19-24 17 54.84 Good

25-30 14 45.16 Excellent

Level of skills in Trigonometry. The table shows the level of skills of the 1st

year students who took the test using the calculator in the subject Trigonometry.

Based on the data presented on Table 2, no among the respondents got a score

ranging from one (1) to six (6) with the descriptive equivalent of poor. None of the

respondents got a score ranging from seven (7) to twelve (12) with a descriptive

equivalent of fair. None of the respondents got a score ranging from thirteen (13)

to eighteen (18) with a descriptive equivalent of average. Seventeen (17) or fifty

four point eighty four (54.84) percent of the respondents got a score ranging from

nineteen (19) to twenty four (24) with a descriptive equivalent of good. Fourteen

(14) or forty five point sixteen (45.16) percent of the students got a score ranging

from twenty five (25) to thirty (30) with a descriptive equivalent of excellent.

Table 4

Level of significance Between the Mean of the scores of students with

calculators vs without using a calculator

 Mean w/o Mean w/ t-value Significance
calculator calculator

19.23 24.77 -4.269** .000

The independent t-test is used to compare the means between two different

groups of samples. The table shows that the mean of the respondents scores who

use calculators is 19.23 and the mean of the respondents scores is 24.77. The

t-value is -4.269 and the significance is at .000. Therefore, there is a significant

difference between the students who used calculator and the students who didn’t

used calculator.
 CHAPTER 4

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Presented in this chapter are the summary, conclusion and recommendation

based from the previously presented, analyzed and interpreted data on the extent

of awareness on whether calculators are a help or a hindrance to the 1 st year

students of Pangasinan State University - ASingan Campus second semester S.Y.

2017-2018.

CONCLUSIONS
 This study was carried out among the 1st year students of PSU to assess their

level of knowledge and skills in answering the test in the subject Trigonometry

with us without using calculator.

The study reveals that 6.45% are poor, 9.68% are fair, 25.81% are average,

38.71% are good and 19.35% are excellent among the students who took the test

without using calculator.

On the other hand, 54.84% are good and 45.16% are excellent among the

students who used the calculator in the test and none of them got a range of score

which are equivalent to poor, fair and average.

The mean result of the score of the students who didn’t used calculator is

19.23 while the mean result of the score of the students who used calculator is

24.77.

In survey, it is clear that the students who used calculator has greater

performance than the students who didn’t used calculator. Thus, the calculator is

not a hindrance, but an important tool for the students to make their performance

better in solving mathematical problems.

The following conclusions were drawn based on the findings of the study:
1. The 1st year students of Pangasinan State University - Asingan Campus are

male dominated. Most of the students has the age ranging from 16 and above.

Most of their parents belongs to the lowest income which is below Php 5,000.

2. The students who use calculators during the test has a greater performance

than those who do not use calculators based on the result of independent

sample t-test.

3. There is a significant difference between the skills of the students who use

calculator and who do not use calculators in trigonometry.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings to examine whether calculators is a help on a

hindrance for the 1st year students of Pangasinan State University-Asingan

Campus, it is clear that students has greater performance when they are

using calculators in solving mathematical problems. It is recommended that

students should make use of calculators to once that they can make or

answer the mathematical problem course.

It is recommended that:
1. The students should provide there own calculator before taking a test in order

to have a higher score.

2. The teachers should require their students to have their own calculators to

enhance a math classroom and prepare students for the future.

3. The teachers should take a balance used of calculators and paper and pencil in

the classroom to enhance both skills.

4. Teachers should have a balance activities that requires computations that

requires focus on problem solving and using of calculators.

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Asingan Campus

Asingan, Pangasinan
CALCULATORS: A HELP OR A HINDRANCE

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for MH 116
(ACTION RESEARCH IN MATH EDUCATION)

by
Aljhon R. Padilla
Rovelyn P. Manzano
 Jimmia C. Parinas
KoKHin Maung G. Thein, Jr.

January 2018