Examining Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitude Towards ICT-Integration in Teaching and Learning of Geometrical Constructions

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the effect of ICT-integration (use of Smart Notebook) on pre-service teachers’ attitudes at a selected college of education in the Bono Region of Ghana. One group experimental design was used to examine 36 first-year mathematics major pre-service teachers’ cognitive, affective and conative domains of attitude towards ICT-integration. The Tripartite model of attitude was used to examine the relationships and predictability of cognitive, affective and conative dimensions of attitude towards the integration of ICT-based intervention. A four point likert-Scale questionnaire instrument was used to collect data on all the four constructs involved in the framework. The questionnaire was administered on the pre-service teachers before and after the ICT-based intervention and the data were analyzed using correlation, regression, and paired samples t-test, based on which the research questions were answered. The results showed that all the dimensions have a strong influence on pre-service teachers’ attitudes before and after the ICT-based intervention in teaching and learning of geometrical constructions. The cognitive domain reported the strongest relationship and the best predictor of pre-service teachers’ attitudes while affective dimension showed the least relationship and least predictor of attitude before the ICT-based intervention. However, the Affective dimension reported the strongest relationship and best influential determinant of the pre-service teachers’ attitude after the intervention. In addition, the study found significant differences in pre-service teachers’ attitudes before and after the ICT-based intervention in teaching and learning of geometrical constructions. This study as well suggests that to influence pre-service teachers’ attitudes positively, the affective (feelings) domain should be given more attention when designing ICT-integration lessons in the teaching and learning of geometrical constructions. It is therefore recommended that mathematics tutors in the colleges of education should identify such ICT-based interventions and use them in teaching and learning of mathematics to develop pre-service teachers’ attitudes positively towards the subject.