Scientific Calculator Proficiency and Competency Among Secondary School Students in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Scientific calculator has been implemented from early years of secondary school to the undergraduate years in mathematics education in Malaysia. As one of the learning tools, scientific calculator is meant to assist students in understanding concepts and solving mathematical computation. Teachers and students should have the proficiency in using scientific calculator in order to benefit from this technology.  Competency in using scientific calculator in solving mathematics lesson among students promotes the ability and confidence in learning mathematics. However, with many topics to cover during mathematics lesson, the use of scientific calculator seems to be left behind and is up to the students to catch up. This study explores secondary school student’s proficiency and competency in using scientific calculator during a structured seminar. Data was collected from 56 secondary school students in Pulau Pinang who involved in a mathematical seminar. Findings show positive outcome from the seminar, even though there was no significant difference from paired-samples t-test done (Mean: Pre=6.7, Post=6.9), there was 40 percent decrease of number of students in the low scores group. This study suggests that a similar calculator seminar being trained to students occasionally as part of an initiative to support and maximize the use of scientific calculators in mathematics education.