Possible Adoption

Since Teacher C had adopted computer games in his teaching, the other five teachers were asked to comment on the potential use of computer games to teach mathematics. The responses obtained were not very positive.

a. Concerns

i. Time constraint

Most of the teachers (B, D, E and F) did not totally agree with this proposal. Their major concern was time constraint. For instance, a teacher said,

Recommend, if and only if I have enough time okay… I think Add Maths we are rushing through… rush to finish the syllabus…If the computer games come in, we have to give way to the time… Then you see that you can only finish your syllabus very late. Then the time really left for revision is limited only… We need to train the students, prepare students for the exam… Time constraint… That is the main problem… It is a waste of time (Teacher D).

Most of the teachers (B, D, E and F) have pointed out their time constraint due to preparing students for examinations. Thus, the teachers would not risk adopting the computer games in classroom teaching because it would jeopardise examination performance. The teachers focus on the explicit learning content, and they do not value implicit skills that could be learned through computer games. The teachers’ concern for time constraints indirectly suggested that they viewed teaching of mathematics without computer games to be more effective in achieving better exam results. Teacher D has made an interesting remark that the use of computer games to learn mathematics is “a waste of time”. This is a popular remark made by adults because no content is involved so it is not seen as learning (Gee, 2007).

ii. Suitability of topic

Two teachers (B and D) also raised their concerns about the suitability of computer games for the topics learned. The teachers said,

Depends on the topic… If there is a good game, then it is okay… They really can help in the chapter that they learn in mathematics (Teacher B).

Games… I am sort of old timer. Games are hardly. I see the topics most of them are not suitable for games (Teacher D).

Teacher D who was teaching Additional Mathematics had an opinion that computer games were not suitable for most of the topics. One possibility was that she had yet to be exposed to any computer game that was effective to teach advanced mathematics. Being the most experienced teacher among all the teachers

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interviewed, she admitted her lack of competence in using computer game. She was aware of the generation gap and disclosed that she was behind the technologies.

If computer game is to be introduced in schools, some teachers may not be able to manage the technological aspects of the computer games. This problem might introduce another challenge to computer games implementation.

iii. Assessment Method

Other than time constraint and suitability of topic, a teacher (F) was concerned with the method of assessment. She said,

Can teach (using computer games) but and then the exam? How ah? Exams also use the computer game? No right? It is even better if the exam is using computer game. Who scores the most in two hours? [Translated from BM] (Teacher F).

Teacher F has pointed out an interesting point on assessing students in exams if they are learning mathematics using computer games. Students who perform well in mathematics computer games may not excel in written-based examinations because they need to do manual calculations.

iv. Computer Labs

Other than the constraints related to teaching and learning, three teachers (B, D and E) mentioned that schools had limited computer labs. A teacher said,

Unless all the classrooms having computer but now we don’t have. So, if we have that type of using computer, we have to go to computer lab. At the moment, computer lab is not very friendly type, no air con, air con spoilt… We have one computer lab, one simulation room… They are meant for computer class in the afternoon. Usually they are class time (Teacher D).

According to the teachers, not every classroom was equipped with computers, and schools had limited number of computer labs that were normally used for teaching IT subjects. Furthermore, the hardware and software available in the schools were outdated and might not support the use of computer games. Teacher B and E also mentioned the slow Internet connection in the schools. M1 and M2 are schools of excellence or smart schools and they are located in the city area, and yet there are claims that the schools are lack of computer facilities.

b. Disagreement

Two teachers strongly believed that the best mathematics pedagogy was the conventional classroom teaching. The teachers said,

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Classroom teaching (better approach)… I foresee them too to be too engrossed in it. Maybe they forget the basic problem-solving. I mean basic of mathematics. The more usual of the addition, how to add, subtract or multiply… Because it is not hands on (Teacher A).

If you say mathematics computer games, I think still classroom better. Because computer games ah, because students may get carry away with the purpose in playing games only. They don’t know what their learning actually (Teacher D).

Teacher A seems to focus on the four basic arithmetic operations without considering the cognitive or metacognitive skills related to mathematics learning. In an earlier section, the teacher has claimed the possibility of learning logical and analytical thinking skills by playing puzzle games. However, she could not link those skills to formal classroom learning. She may not know how to adopt the games into teaching. Teacher D, however, sees computer games as just playing without learning. She may perceive learning can only happen formally. So for teachers to value the educational benefits of computer games, very often the content (e.g. mathematics concepts) must be salient and explicit as in edutainment.

In this section, it can be seen that all the five teachers (except Teacher C) are quite reluctant to adopt computer games in teaching by giving many concerns to its implementation. Looking at the existing situation, the use of computer games is deemed to be impractical.

However, Teacher C had a different view. He said,

For me, should be enough (computer lab facilities)… I think I have enough time… This depends on how you go through all the syllabus. For me, I’m not teaching whatever inside the syllabus. So, sometimes I will put it together… Sometimes I need to be fast… This is a new chapter for my students, now I need to be slow. But certain chapter which is related from previous study, then I grab their prior knowledge then I can be fast (Teacher C).

According to Teacher C, the school was equipped with sufficient computer facilities. As Teacher C also had to work within a given time constraint, he believed that proper time management was critical. He shared a few tricks and useful teaching techniques that he had practiced to make it possible to work within the time constraint and still be able to include computer games in his class. For new topics, he had to teach slowly. However, for some related topics, he would combine them together. Moreover, if students had prior knowledge of a topic, then he would go over the materials faster.

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Most of the teachers could foresee many challenges that prevented them from using computer games in teaching. Time is the main constraint to adopt computer games in mathematics learning. From a practical point of view, the use of computer games for mathematics learning might not be an appropriate teaching approach in the schools. This is a real constraint, economically and technically especially for the schools in rural areas. Furthermore, a heavy dependence on high specification technologies might cause learning difficulties if any technical issue occurred.

Regardless of the teachers’ responses, their major concern is always circled around

assessment. Without doubt, the Malaysian education system is exam-oriented, and

the whole learning process is also designed around skill-and-drill to ensure that students obtained a grade A since the performance of teachers and schools are judged by the number of grade As achieved. This defeats the purpose of education when the grade is a sole benchmark of learning. Recently, a computer game designed to learn Malaysian history has made a big impact when it receives an international recognition and reported to improve students’ academic performance (Zulkipli, 2015). A computer game is regarded as good if students can obtain an A after playing it. For schools,

important knowledge is learning of content in the sense of information related to intellectual domains and academic disciplines (Gee, 2007, p.22).

Schools do not honour tacit knowledge and skills tied to practice (Gee, 2007). The society has the same views on this. For instance, someone who has completed a four-year degree in agriculture is honoured more than a farmer who has planted various types of vegetables and fruits for 40 years. The whole education system is about getting a formal recognition.