TO MAKE MATH ONLINE CLASSES EFFECTIVE AND EASY MANAGED FOR STUDENTS

Nina Stankous¹*, Martha Buibas²
¹Assoc. Prof., Dr., National University, The United States, nstankous@nu.edu
²Instructor, National University, The United States, mbuibas@nu.edu
*Corresponding author

Abstract

The term “Independent Learners” is very common and well known in education in present days. There are hundreds of articles and books devoted to discussion of who are independent learners and what skills they should have to be successful in getting new knowledge.

Those skills are even more important for students taking online classes. In addition, math classes also have specific features related to that discipline.

This study is designed to survey real students in our math online classes. The questionnaire was developed based on “directed independent learning” concept (Liz Thomas, et al, 2014), which can be defined as “learning in which students are guided by curriculum content, pedagogy and assessment, and supported by staff and the learning environment, in which students play an active role in their learning experience – either on their own or in collaboration with peers”.

It contains a set of questions about independent learner’s skills like: time management, setting daily schedule, computer literacy etc. The rest of the set is devoted to interaction between students and their professor and classmates. It gives us a better understanding of student’s challenges and communication problems.

We want to see and analyze what students think about their math online classes. We are asking students whether they prefer online or onsite format for math classes or it does not matter. Also, if learning math in online classes more difficult than other online courses; or why they like online format – reasons could be: convenient, time saving, working on your own schedule, more independent thinking, etc. They can also add some other reasons they can see there.

Results of the study will help us to make a clear picture of what kind of skills our students have or should have and work out practical recommendations for future classes design.

Keywords: Independent learners, online education, math online, online vs offline.