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Skills Required for Mathematics Faculty Members to conduct Research in Math Education

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

Dr. Nedhal Abdul Hafedh Taher 1,

1 Lebanese French University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Abstract

The study identifies the required research skills formathematics faculty members to conduct research in math education, moreover it identifies which aspects of research skills are more required, so it aims to develop a list of research skills for any training program, to identify the extent of required skillsand to identify if there are significant differences in the extent of the required skills for faculty members, and among the universities. The researcher used the analytical descriptive method in the collection, classification and processing of the data for this study. Based on the monitoring of many theoretical and empirical studies the researcher prepared a list of the research skills, a questionnaire designed for collecting data allocated on six dimensions. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were checked. The study sample was chosen randomly.

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the processing of the studies data.

Keywords: needs, research skills, faculty member, and training.

1. Introduction

Higher education institution in contemporary societies playsavital role in determining the pathways of social and economic growth- in highly competitive environment-It is a driving force in economic prosperity and social change. (Ramsden P. 2003)

The expansion of the use of modern information and communication technology (ICT) and so-called multimedia in the teaching, research activities and activities with the labor market led to the emergence of a competitive global universities market, in which universities compete for financial resources that enable them to establish their existence among highly reputable universities, through which they can attract students to study and attract companies to invest in them. Universities around the world aim to ensure the overall quality of all administrative, educational, research activities and to monitor the outputs of those activities in the labor market in order to maintain their position and status among universities, whether at the local, regional or global level (Taher, 2018). The universities have paid attention to the abilities and skills of the teaching staffs,research staffs and management workers, with strong belief that theirqualifications areinsufficient to meet the challenges imposed by the new environment for their works. So emerged an unprecedented interest in the training of thefaculty members, researchers and management personnel.

The training in the rapid technological innovation environment has become one of the major requirements of adapting the universities to the rapid changes in information and communication technology, the needs of the communities and in the human resource development. (Abuelenien, 2016). To achieve this goal, requires investing efforts and funds in training the workforce, on the technological changes that control the internal and external environment of the university. Among the main issues to be trained are skills related withmethods and techniques of the research. Based on this fact, the university has to focus on the training activities, especially in the field of research, in order to develop the skills of its employees to cope with the functional requirements for rapid changes (Al-

Skills Required for Mathematics Faculty Members to

conduct Research in Math Education

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

Marwan, 2015, Al-Salem and Saleh, 2002) believe that training is one of the methods used by the university administration to develop the faculty members' technical skills and behavioral abilities to cope with changes in the university's external and internal environment. Al-Hiti (2003) believes that the universities resorted to training in order to maintain its sustainability as an organization through the development of its human resources, training according to him is a process that should accompany the employees of the organization in their movement at work. Zoelph (2003) believes that training currently occupies avital place among the activities of universities in order to improve the efficiency of the university and develop the skills of its employees, including faculty members. Training is a mean by which employees achieve promotion and higher jobs (Rashid, 2001). Al-Kubaisi (2001) believes that universities today are no longer limited to achieving their traditional goals, but extend their activities to the scientific, technological aspects of life, and to diagnose the changing needs of society. In this direction, Yahya (2013) indicates that the faculty members are in constant need to acquire the new skills to ensure proper performance of their educational tasks. Adoption of modern technology as a source of information and Communication has given research in math education a new dimension that makes the skills possessed by the researcher always are deficient if the skills in research methods and strategies are not constantly updated. The research is one of the tasks of the mathematics faculty member of the university besides teaching (Masri, 2004). The researcher faces a number of problems related to the performance of the research task in math education. Payne & Chamberlain (2004) find that a researcher may lack the skills required to perform a research task and needs training on those skills.

Acquisition research skills in math education is not only a task related to the promotion of the personal faculty member's skills, but also it reflects on the performance of the teacher, the outcomes of the student's learning, and to which extent the outputs arerelevant to the labor market needs in solving the problems of work and keeping pace with scientific progress. It is not surprising, that the universities of the European Union countries - based on the Bologna Declaration - adopted the scientific research skills that the researcher should possess as one of the basic criteria for the European universities in their teaching and scientific activities (ESG, 2015). In the United States, for example, the National Council of Teachers (NCTM) has established a foundation on how to train teachers in applied skills in solving mathematical problems that require scientific skills in the search for how to solve the mathematical problem. (Courtney K., et al., 2013)

2. Objectivesof the study

This study aims:

1. To develop a list of research skills in math education.

2. To identify the extent of requirementfor research skills.

3. To identify if there are significant differences in the extent of the requirement for skills among axes and among universities.

3. Research methodology

The analytical descriptive method used in collection, classification and processing of the study data.

The following procedures are implemented:

First:A list of the research skillswas prepared a cording to pilot questionnaire.

Second:A questionnaire for collecting datawas designed,itcontained two parts, the first included instructions to the respondents about how to response on the questionnaires items. The second part included the items which allocatedon six axes.

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

The validity, reliabilityand the consistency of the questionnairewere checked.

The study sample waschosen randomly, it covered 7 private universities (50% of the private universities in Kurdistan Region), namely: Tishk university, Chihan university, Lebanese French university, knowledge university, Bayan university, Erbil university and Catholic university.

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the processing of the studies data.

4. Research Findings

The study constructed the following list of research skills identified by faculty members as crucial skills should be regarded in conducting research in math education and should be included by training program, the list contains 44 skills distributed in 6 axes as follows:

The first axis: Start-up skills:

• Utilize research sources (books, e-books, scientific journals, website)

• Selection of research problem from: theoretical studies, empirical studies

• Drafting the title of the research

• Formulate research questions, objectives and hypotheses

• Define terms intheoretical and operational sense

• Identify appropriate statistical means

• Write proposal

The second axis: Data collection skills:

• Primary data

• Secondary data

• Quantitative data (survey and experimental)

• Qualitative data (interview and observation)

• Longitudinal data

• Cross sectional data

• Identification and representation of samples

• Classification and analysis of data

The third axis: Quantitative Research Design Skills (Survey and Experimental):

• Survey

• Comparative research

• Relational research

• Experimental research

• Queasy semi-experimental research

• Design of questionnaires

• Define variables

• Conduct honesty, consistency and internal consistency of the tool The fourth axis: Qualitative Research Design Skills

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

• Interview with open-ended questions

• Interview specific questions

• Direct observation by the researcher

• Observation through technological means

• Observation with others (shared)

• Interview Ethics

• Ethics of observation The fifth axis: Writing Skills:

• Abstract

• The introduction

• Theoretical and privies studies

• Methodology

• Findings and discuss results

• Conclusions

• Recommendations and suggestions

The sixth axis: References and CitingSkills

• Use of different references models

• citing

• references

• Books

• Journals

• Electronic means

• Theses and dissertations

2.A. The study found out that there is a real need for research skills in math education in all axes, where the overall mean of the responses is (2.28),out of(3.00), The responses varied between the highest meanfor the fifth axis (2.43) and the lowest mean for the fourth axis (2.15). The following table illustrates the details.

Table (1) illustrates the Mean and Std. Deviation

First axis Second axis Third axis Forth axis Fifth axis Sixth axis Total resolution

N Valid 83 83 83 83 83 83 83

Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Mean 2.41 2.25 2.21 2.15 2.43 2.25 2.28

Std. Deviation .498 .512 .523 .554 .630 .661 .476

B. The first axis: the overall mean of responses for this axisis (2.41),the means of the axes varied between 2.60(skill No. 1) and 2.33 (skill N. 2 and N.5). The following table illustrates the details.

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

Table (2) illustrates the Mean and Std. Deviation

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5 Item 6 Item 7

first axis

N Valid 83 83 83 83 83 83 83

83

Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0

Mean 2.60 2.32 2.42 2.45 2.34 2.40 2.35

2.41

Std. Deviation .670 .683 .681 .650 .718 .660 .706

.498

C. The secondaxis: the overall mean of responses for this axisis (2.25),the means of the axes varied between 2.52 (skill No. 15) and 2.07 (skill N.12). The following table illustrates the details.

Table (3) illustrates the Mean and Std. Deviation

question 8

question 9

question 10

question 11

question 12

question 13

question 14

question 15

second axis

N Valid 83 83 83 83 83 83 83 83

83

Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0

Mean 2.35 2.15 2.26 2.19 2.07 2.12 2.33 2.52

2.25

Std.

Deviation .720 .773 .717 .735 .677 .681 .703 .669

.512

D. The thirdaxis: the overall mean of responses for this axisis (2.21),the means of the axes varied between 2.28 (skill No. 19) and 2.07 (skill N.20). The following table illustrates the details.

Table (4) illustrates the Mean and Std. Deviation

question 16

question 17

question 18

question 19

question 20

question 21

question 22

question 23

third axis

N Valid 83 83 83 83 82 83 83 83

83

Missing 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

0

Mean 2.26 2.23 2.16 2.28 2.07 2.27 2.19 2.24

2.21

Std.

Deviation .700 .750 .695 .646 .644 .686 .735 .704

.52313

E. The forthaxis: the overall mean of responses for this axisis (2.22),the means of the axes varied between 2.29 (skill No. 29) and 2.08 (skill N.28). The following table illustrates the details.

Table (5) illustrates the Mean and Std. Deviation

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

question 24

question 25

question 26

question 27

question 28

question 29

question

30

forth axis

N Valid 83 83 83 83 83 83 83

Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Mean 2.12 2.06 2.15 2.13 2.08 2.29 2.24

2.15

Std.

Deviation .699 .722 .723 .689 .669 .654 .678

.55391

F. The fifthaxis: the overall mean of responses for this axisis (2.16),the means of the axes varied between 2.29 (skill No. 29) and 2.06 (skill N.25). The following table illustrates the details.

Table (6) illustrates the Mean and Std. Deviation

question 31

question 32

question 33

question 34

question 35

question3 36

question

37

fifth axis

N Valid 83 83 83 83 83 83 83

Missi

ng 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Mean 2.52 2.47 2.41 2.36 2.44 2.47 2.32

2.43

Std.

Deviation .705 .704 .718 .740 .768 .721 .783

.62905

G. F. The sixth axis: the overall mean of responses for this axisis (2.25),the means of the axes varied between 2.31 (skill No. 38) and 2.17 (skill N.44). The following table illustrates the details.

Table (7) illustrates the Mean and Std. Deviation

question 38

questio n 39

question 40

question 41

question 42

question 43

question 44

sixth axis

N Valid 83 83 83 83 83 83 83

83

Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0

Mean 2.31 2.27 2.22 2.23 2.29 2.24 2.17

2.25

Std.

Deviation .728 .721 .782 .766 .777 .754 .718

.66120

3. A.The findings of ANOVA showing that there is significant differences in estimating required research skills in the fifth axis, the value of (sig) is .031,it is less than .05 .For otheraxes, the values of (sig) are largest than .05, respectively: .240, .285, .280, .218, .054, which shows no significant differences between these axes.

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

The table (1) shows that the difference is largest in the fifth axis (writing research) where the meanof thisaxisis(2.43).

B. There is no significant differences for required research skills among universities.

The above findings showing that the faculty members in all disciplines in private universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have crucial needsfor research skills, where the mean of faculty members’ responses exceeded the theoretical mean (2) in all areas of research skills.

Thefindings are consistent with the real life at the university, where new starter staff often report that they face many problems while conducting research.

Recommendations

The researcher recommends the following:

1. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq should adopt for starter staff training programs for conducting research in math education.

2. Universities should undertake training programs on research skills for different level of experience of the teaching staff in mathematics.

3. Specialized training courses should be organized, where training is limited to the skills of each field independently.

4. Training courses for trainers should be organized to qualify them for training skills and new developments in the field of training.

5. The universities of the Region should establish specialized departments or units to train teaching staff on scientific research skills within a consistent program characterized by continuity.

6. That universities rely on the participation of faculty member in a specific number of courses on the skills of scientific research from one of the conditions of scientific promotion.

7. To review the training programs for scientific research in postgraduate master's and doctoral degrees.

References

1. Abouelenein, Yousri Attia Mohamed (2016). Training needs for faculty members: Towards achieving quality of university education in the light of technological innovations, Academic Journals,Vol. 11 (13).

2. Al-Hiti Khalid Abdul Rahim (2003). Human Resources Department, Dar Wael, Amman, Jordan.

3. Al-Jadri, Adnan, and Abu Hilo Yacoub (2009). Methodological Bases and Statistical Uses in Educational and Human Sciences Research, Esraa for Publishing and Distribution, Amman, Jordan.

4. Al-Kubaisi, Abdullah, and Amir Mahmood (2001). The Role of Higher Education Institutions in the Economic Development of the Community, Doha, Dar Al Thaqafa for Printing, Publishing and Distribution.

5. Al-Masri, Mohamed Abdel Hamid (2004). Obstacles to conducting scientific research and proposals for its development from the viewpoint of faculty members at the private University of Isra, Yemeni Culture Journal, No. 11.

6. Al-Salem, Moayad Saeed, Saleh Adel Marhosh (2002). Human Resources Management, Strategic Approach, Modern Book World, Jordan.

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Vol. 28, No. 13, (2019), pp. 579-586

7. Courtney Koestler,Mathew Felton, Kristen Bieda, Samuel Otten (2013).

Connecting the NCTM Process Standards and the CCSSM Practices,National Council of Teachers of mathematics NCTM January 25, 2013.

8. ESG (2015). Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Brussel, Belgium.

9. Nada, Yahya Mohamed (2013). The Training Needs of Scientific Research for Faculty Members at Al-Quds Open University in Palestine, Journal of Quds Open University for Educational and Psychological Research and Studies, Vol.1 (3).

10. Ozcan,K.(2015).Strategy and co-creation thinking. Strategy and Leadership, Vol 41 (6).

11. Payane, G., Williams, M., & Chamberlain, S. (2004). Methodological Pluralism in British Sociology. Sociology, Vol. 38 (1).

12. Ramsden P. (2003). Learning to Teach in Higher Education, 2nd Edition.

London and New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

13. Rasheed, Mazen Fares (2001). Human Resources Management - Theoretical Foundations and Practical Applications in Saudi Arabia, Obeikat Office, Riyadh.

14. Taher, Nidhal Abdul Hafiz (2018). Evaluation of mathematics education and learning in the universities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in accordance with the standards of academic accreditation for university education and labor market requirements, University of Alexandria, Egypt, unpublished doctoral thesis.

15. Toit,A.D.,MarietjieHavenga, Marthie Van der Walt (2016).Project-Based Learning in Higher Education: New Skills Set for Consumer Studies Teacher Education, Journal for New Generation Sciences, Vol 14 (3) October 2016.

16. Zewailf, Abdullah, Samir Mahmoud (200). The role of higher education institutions in the economic development of society, Doha House of culture for printing, publishing and distribution.

References

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