Enhancing students' learning experience and promoting inclusive practice via social media

This presentation will share effective uses of social media in academic practice and research. Interaction and participation in the session will be encouraged by a variety of activities. It will discuss the author’s own initiative of using Facebook to address mathematics anxiety as well as statistics anxiety, promote inclusive practice, student interaction and to enhance students' learning experience. It will show how Facebook contributed to enhancing the learning and teaching climate in statistics teaching rooms.

Background information and context

Mathematics anxiety is defined as “a feeling of tension and anxiety that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations” (Richardson & Suinn, 1972, p. 551). It has been argued that “…students are likely to have trouble with statistics due to non-cognitive factors, such as negative attitudes or beliefs towards statistics. Such factors can impede learning of statistics…” (Gal, & Ginsberg, 1994). Furthermore, associations with mathematics in terms of success or failure form the mathematical self-concept (the individuals’ beliefs about their mathematical abilities) which would influence how students' approach mathematics (Bandura 1986). Mathematics anxiety as well as statistics anxiety (MSA) is far from just a psychological issue and can prompt a response in the brain similar to when a person experiences physical pain (Lyons I M & Beilock S L 2012).

The author argues that academically able students are also known to suffer from MSA due to their fear of underperforming in exams and developed a teaching model through a four-year study from 2010 to 2014, to address MSA in non-specialist university students.

An additional feature was incorporated into the author’s teaching model in order to maintain students’ interest and engagement to keep up with the ubiquitous iPads, smart-phones and Tablets which seemed to disrupt student engagement. An Optional Facebook Study Group was set up by the author in October 2012 for a statistics undergraduate level course designed for a variety of degree programmes such as actuarial science, mathematical economics and econometrics, management science, accounting, finance and related fields. Students on this course have a range of learning requirements as a result of diversity in their academic and cultural backgrounds. The purpose was to address wide ranging learning needs as a result of students’ academic and cultural diversity. It mainly focused on creating as well as maintaining students’ interest in statistics by promoting interaction and facilitating collaboration.

Rationale

The rationale was to use a platform familiar to students, as a tool for enhancing student engagement and their learning experience.

Expected outcomes

Students will engage with greater commitment and enthusiasm in and beyond statistics teaching rooms.

Research methodology

The author gathered data through open-ended questionnaires, case studies and Likert-scale questionnaires. The qualitative data were used to identify the problem areas and formulate the Likert scale Questionnaires. This helped monitor MSA and also indicated how students rated the model which was modified based on their feedback.

Approach

 Interest is created by regular postings of links to videos on Facebook, aimed at demonstrating how accessible and enjoyable statistics can be.

Furthermore, links to videos and articles on the practical applications of theoretical concepts from the course syllabus are regularly posted to maintain students’ interest. Students are encouraged to post their queries and engage in discussion.

Outcomes and findings

 Student participation with Facebook Study Groups started with 8% in 2012 and has continued to increase at an extremely encouraging rate every year since then to 99% in 2015.  Facebook Study Groups also had a positive impact on student interaction in teaching rooms.  The potential of social media to enhance interaction is worth exploring at university level despite several challenges involved but “Traditionally, students come to school “powered-up” and wired with the newest technologies available – but often they must leave them at the door, since faculty do not use them in classrooms and may even regard them with suspicion (Roblyer et al, 2010)”. I would argue that a cautionary approach and planning may be a way forward to enjoy the benefits such as “…flexibility, repeatable and convenience and accessibility… (Zaidieh, 2012).”

Further details as well as data will be shared in this presentation which will be followed by discussion and questions.  

References

Bandura, A. (1986) Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, Inc.

Gal, I., and Ginsburg, L. (1994), The Role of Beliefs and Attitudes in Learning Statistics: Towards an Assessment Framework, Journal of Statistics Education.

Lyons IM, Beilock SL (2012) When Math Hurts: Math Anxiety Predicts Pain Network Activation in Anticipation of Doing Math. PLoS ONE 7(10): e48076. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048076

Richardson, F.C., & Suinn, R.M. (1972, November). The mathematics anxiety rating scale: Psychometric data. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19 (6), 551-554.

Roblyer, M.D, McDaniel, M, Webb, M, Herman, J and Witty, J. (2010) Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites in Internet and Higher Education, Elesvier.

Zaidieh, A. (2012). The Use of Social Networking in Education: Challenges and Opportunities in World of Computer Science and Information Technology Journal 2(1): pp 18-21.