Educational Television Shows and their effect in the performance of Grade 8 students in Algebra

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Mathematics is one of the feared subjects and that is the reason why teachers always thought of strategies on how to make Mathematics more interesting for the students. Teachers consider varied teaching approaches and strategies in presenting mathematical discussions. It is the advent of modern technology, Educational television produced TV shows formats which aim to educate the audience according to specified information and goal like Sineskwela, Matanglawin and Math Tinik. This study intends to show the effectiveness of Educational television (ETV) shows as an instructional tool in teaching mathematics especially Algebra lessons.

METHODS

The researcher used an experimental method to gather primary data to determine the effect of ETV in the performance of Grade 8 students in Algebra. Under this method, the researcher used a quasi-experimental design. The participants were 50 Grade 8 students from the selected none co-pilot section. The researcher administered pre-test before the ETV viewing and post-test after watching, the said data gathering was managed for three ETV shows with the following topics: Rectangular Coordinate System, Relation and Function, and Slope.

RESULTS

Based on the data gathered, the mean grades obtained by the students in the pre-test for the 3 topics are 65.65%, 43.50%, and 41.50% which falls under the Beginning level. In the post-test, they obtained the following 74.15%, 53.15%, and 58.50%. The result shows that there is a significant difference in the performance of the students in pre-test and post-test. It implies that ETV shows play an important role in enhancing the mathematical skills of the students. The difference between the mean scores shows the effect of the ETV viewing varies depending on the topic it contains.

DISCUSSIONS

The results demonstrated that using Educational television shows is effective in improving the students' performance in mathematics. The students were motivated by ETV viewing which enhances the students' mathematical skills. Since the ETV shows are effective, it can also be applied together with other strategies, such that the teacher can give exercises after the discussion. However, the teachers should properly select the appropriate ETV show that is suited to the mathematics lesson. After the show, the teacher should discuss additional information related to the content of the ETV show so that the students may fully understand the lesson and answer the questions if there are any.