Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor

From the constructivist paradigm, knowing misconceptions of students regarding a particular concept is deemed vital in designing effective instruction. Ausubel (1968) commented that 'The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows; ascertain this and tea...

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Main Authors:	Beh, Kian Lim, Tong, Swee Foong, Noor, Che Noorlia
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Research Management Institute (RMI) 2008
Subjects:	Teaching aids and devices Institutions of higher education LG Individual institutions
Online Access:	http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13059/ http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13059/1/AJ_BEH%20KIAN%20LIM%20SMRJ%2008%201.pdf

id	uitm-13059
recordtype	eprints
spelling	uitm-130592016-06-20T05:24:51Z http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13059/ Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor Beh, Kian Lim Tong, Swee Foong Noor, Che Noorlia Teaching aids and devices Institutions of higher education LG Individual institutions From the constructivist paradigm, knowing misconceptions of students regarding a particular concept is deemed vital in designing effective instruction. Ausubel (1968) commented that 'The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows; ascertain this and teach him accordingly'. The symbiosis between science and mathematics is a profound one. Science views mathematics as a significant branch. Science likes to refer mathematics as the Queen, as mathematics nurtures the growth of science especially in the areas such as scientific prediction and manipulation. On the other hand, many concepts of mathematics are invented for the purpose of science such Proportion and Calculus to name a few. Two major ideas in Proportion are the Direct and the Inverse. A good grasp of these mathematical ideas is paramount for students in understanding the fundamental nature of science in its quantitative form. This paper offers a comprehensive description of seven hundred and fifty nine science based students (385 female and 374 male) from a local university in their developmental understanding of this mathematical idea of Inverse Proportion from the six domains i.e., Definition of Inverse Proportion, Graphical Representation of Inverse Proportion, Mathematical Representation of Inverse Proportion, Data Characteristic of Inverse Proportion, Relational Understanding of Inverse Proportion, and Problem Solving in Inverse Proportion. It discusses these six domains from two perspectives i.e., Academic Ability and Gender. The paper is based on a study by Beh et al (2008) anchoring on Constructivism. Among the major findings are: Students irrespective of high or low academic ability generally performed poorly in domains requiring conceptual understanding but showed relatively higher competency for the domain requiring procedural skills. Students of higher level academic ability demonstrate a significant in dept understanding of Inverse Proportion than students of lower level of academic ability; and Male students overall understanding of Inverse is significantly higher than their female counterparts at the 5% level. Since the study is based on Constructivism, it also highlights students' alternative frameworks. Implications for teaching and learning will be discussed. Research Management Institute (RMI) 2008 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13059/1/AJ_BEH%20KIAN%20LIM%20SMRJ%2008%201.pdf Beh, Kian Lim and Tong, Swee Foong and Noor, Che Noorlia (2008) Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor. Social and Management Research Journal, 5 (2). pp. 123-136. ISSN 1675-7017
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Teknologi MARA
building	UiTM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	Teaching aids and devices Institutions of higher education LG Individual institutions
spellingShingle	Teaching aids and devices Institutions of higher education LG Individual institutions Beh, Kian Lim Tong, Swee Foong Noor, Che Noorlia Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor
description	From the constructivist paradigm, knowing misconceptions of students regarding a particular concept is deemed vital in designing effective instruction. Ausubel (1968) commented that 'The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows; ascertain this and teach him accordingly'. The symbiosis between science and mathematics is a profound one. Science views mathematics as a significant branch. Science likes to refer mathematics as the Queen, as mathematics nurtures the growth of science especially in the areas such as scientific prediction and manipulation. On the other hand, many concepts of mathematics are invented for the purpose of science such Proportion and Calculus to name a few. Two major ideas in Proportion are the Direct and the Inverse. A good grasp of these mathematical ideas is paramount for students in understanding the fundamental nature of science in its quantitative form. This paper offers a comprehensive description of seven hundred and fifty nine science based students (385 female and 374 male) from a local university in their developmental understanding of this mathematical idea of Inverse Proportion from the six domains i.e., Definition of Inverse Proportion, Graphical Representation of Inverse Proportion, Mathematical Representation of Inverse Proportion, Data Characteristic of Inverse Proportion, Relational Understanding of Inverse Proportion, and Problem Solving in Inverse Proportion. It discusses these six domains from two perspectives i.e., Academic Ability and Gender. The paper is based on a study by Beh et al (2008) anchoring on Constructivism. Among the major findings are: Students irrespective of high or low academic ability generally performed poorly in domains requiring conceptual understanding but showed relatively higher competency for the domain requiring procedural skills. Students of higher level academic ability demonstrate a significant in dept understanding of Inverse Proportion than students of lower level of academic ability; and Male students overall understanding of Inverse is significantly higher than their female counterparts at the 5% level. Since the study is based on Constructivism, it also highlights students' alternative frameworks. Implications for teaching and learning will be discussed.
format	Article
author	Beh, Kian Lim Tong, Swee Foong Noor, Che Noorlia
author_facet	Beh, Kian Lim Tong, Swee Foong Noor, Che Noorlia
author_sort	Beh, Kian Lim
title	Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor
title_short	Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor
title_full	Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor
title_fullStr	Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor
title_full_unstemmed	Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor
title_sort	inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / beh kian lim, tong swee foong and che noorlia noor
publisher	Research Management Institute (RMI)
publishDate	2008
url	http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13059/ http://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/13059/1/AJ_BEH%20KIAN%20LIM%20SMRJ%2008%201.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T22:49:46Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T22:49:46Z
_version_	1777417465920225280

Inverse proportion : a constructivist view of college students / Beh Kian Lim, Tong Swee Foong and Che Noorlia Noor

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