Research conducted on students in both elementary and junior high schools suggests that their performance in mathematics has improved in the last decade, the National Science Council (NSC) said yesterday.
Amid the recent controversy over educational reforms, the adoption of teaching methods based on concepts of "constructive mathematics" was one of the focus points in the dialogue between the government and the public.
Adoption of these methods in 1996 has been criticized by parents, who argue that their children's ability to calculate would be not as good as that of earlier generations.
To determine the extent of students' mathematical performance, the NSC is sponsoring a research project conducted jointly by professors at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and the National Hsinchu Teachers' College.
According to Lin Fou-lai (林福來), director of the NSC's Department of Science Education, it is the first time that scientific research on the topic has been conducted locally.
"Research results suggest that the average mathematics performance of students has improved in the last 11 years, because more questions are answered correctly," Lin said at a press conference yesterday.
Lin said mathematics performance could be assessed in terms of basic concepts, knowledge and the ability to solve problems.
In June, 1,646 fourth-grade students and 1,874 eighth-grade students from 50 schools nationwide participated in the assessment.
According to principal investigator Horng Wann-sheng (洪萬生), a mathematics professor at NTNU, the test sheet used in the research project was the same as that used in 1992 at the International Assessment of Educational Progress to ensure a fair comparison.
In addition, non-mathematical questions were listed in order to get background information relating to students' learning, Horng said.
Results show that fourth-grade students answered 78.6 percent of questions correctly, Horng said. The performance is far better than the 68.1 percent tested in 1992.
The percentage of questions correctly answered by eigth-grade students, Horng said, was 80 percent, which is higher than the 72.7 percent reflected in 1992.
"One of our conclusions is that fewer students receive lower grades," Horng said.
This could be attributed to a variety of more student-friendly teaching methods adopted by teachers, Horng said.
Horng said that the performance of students was also affected by other factors, such as frequency of examinations, access to the Internet, support from families, interaction among peers, and assistance from bushibans offering different after-school educational programs.
"We found that students tested once a week performed better than those tested more frequently or not at all," Horng said.
Horng said that a similar assessment of eighth-grade students would be conducted again next year in order to make comparisons between students who received different teaching materials, and teaching materials designed under concepts pertaining to "constructive mathematics."
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