5th and 8th grade pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationships between teaching methods, classroom ethos, and positive affective attitudes towards learning mathematics in Japan

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Using a computer

Computers at first tended to be used for school management rather than as teaching
aids, according to a survey conducted by IEA in the 1980s, although the percentage of
schools using computers as teaching aids had dramatically increased by 1992 in many
countries. The position regarding using computers at school in Japan has followed this
international trend. The introduction of the computer as a teaching aid increased from
12% of Japanese elementary schools in 1989 to 36% in 1992. In junior high schools, the
percentage increased from 35% in 1989 to 71% in 1992, because of the introduction of
information technology as a curriculum subject in 1993 (National Institute for Educational
Research, 1995). In 1999, the Ministry of Education (1999) announced that using
computers was particularly beneficial for teaching mathematics as it should develop
pupils’ intuitive sense and competencies in mathematical communication. Using the
computer is also expected to promote pupils’ interest in mathematical activities through
exploring mathematical principles by visual means and also by promoting pupils’ media
literacy.

Japanese teachers believe that computers are easier to use in mathematics classes
than other classes (National Institute for Educational Research, 1995). However,
paradoxically, the results of the TIMSS survey showed that more than 90% of both
elementary and junior high schools did not use computers for problem-solving in
mathematics classes at all (National Institute for Educational Research, 1997, 1998).
The two main reasons why teachers hesitate to use this teaching method in
mathematics classes appear to be a lack of confidence in teaching mathematics through
the computer, and doubts about the effects of this teaching method on pupils’ cognitive
and affective development. Teachers, overall, think that they lack sufficient knowledge
and skills about utilising computers in lessons and regarding what software is suitable for
teaching purposes. Teachers working in Japanese junior high schools do not believe
that the introduction of computers as teaching aids will improve pupils’ achievement or
promote pupils’ co-operative learning (National Institute for Educational Research,
1995).

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