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INCORPORATING HUMAN VALUES-BASED WATER EDUCATION IN MATHEMATICS LESSON Ch’ng Yeang Soon Penang Free School
Tan Khan Aun Tun Syed Sheh Shahabudin Science Secondary School Ng Khar Thoe SEAMEO RECSAM
After attended a few sessions of the Human Values-based Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (HVWSHE) course, the researchers were inspired to plan a values-based Mathematics lesson to teach directed number involving “computation of integers and decimals using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division”. A teaching try-out with Form 2 pupils in a secondary school in Penang was an exciting experience. The idea of “water rationing” was incorporated in Mathematics lesson. By using a spreadsheet program, the pupils were guided to work cooperatively and role-play as families to decide the amount of water they need per day. The lesson was focused on Problem-based Learning (PBL). The students were confronted with a real life problem which they needed to solve immediately in order to survive with limited water supply. Several guided attempts lead them towards better solutions. Teachers provided scaffolding to help them learn about facts and figures by instilling human values. The pupils explored the concepts of directed numbers in a very contextual and meaningful way. The activities elicited higher order thinking with 5 core human values being integrated subtly in the lesson plan so that the pupils would raise the issues through their discussions in the process of solving real-life problems. Survey questionnaire to explore attitude towards water was administered as pretest and posttest. The findings indicated that the students did realize the importance of water (truth). They were willing (love) to share (right-conduct) their water supply in order to maintain peaceful relationship (peace and non-violence) with others.
INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE The United Nations Environment Programme (1999) reported that 200 scientists in 50 countries considered water shortage as one of the most worrying problems for the new millennium. The economic impact of the lack of safe water and adequate sanitation is enormous, reinforcing the poverty cycle in a multitude of ways such as reducing the time available for income-producing activities. Approximately 84% of the people who face the abovementioned problems are those in rural areas; however these problems are slowly creeping into the urban areas. In Malaysia, where water is in abundance, society takes for granted that whatever happened in countries with water shortage are not their concern. But if we were to scrutinize our situation here, we noticed that water shortage is slowly creeping in as a result of human indifferences and industrialization. During the September 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, the establishment of an international Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) was proposed from the year 2005 to 2014 to follow the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. The objectives of the decade were to promote education as the basis for a sustainable human society and to strengthen international cooperation toward the dissemination of environmental information (Ikeda, 2002). This important role for environmental education was stressed in some of the major international reports on environmental problems in recent years. For example, the “Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture as well as Biodiversity and ecosystem management” (WEHAB) initiative was proposed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a contribution to the WSSD. It seeks to provide focus and impetus to action in the five key thematic areas of WEHAB. The 40-page booklet on „A Framework for Action on Water and
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Sanitation‟ (dated August 2002 as reported in UNESCO website) provided an overview of key issues and challenges on how “Water is essential to progress in the four other priority areas of WEHAB”, with emphasis on the central role of water in sustainable development. Although governments of various countries have put in efforts through numerous technical and regulatory measures aiming at improving quality water management and distribution, the implementation of such measures cannot be accomplished without advocacy, awareness and educational initiatives. The World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) argued that, “…the world‟s teachers ... have a crucial role to play in helping to bring about „the extensive social changes‟ needed for socially and ecologically sustainable environments…” (Fien, 1995, p.xiv). Seeing the importance of the roles of the educators towards Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), the SEAMEO-UN HABITAT cooperation project on promoting Human Values-based Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (HVWSHE) in Southeast Asian Schools was initiated by the SEAMEO Secretariat and UN-HABITAT. This project aims to support the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations towards achieving sustainable water-use ethics. A regional Training of Trainers (TOT) course on the integration of HVWSHE was held in RECSAM from May 16th to 25th, 2007 as one of the capacity building initiatives to train teachers on the integration of HVWSHE with conceptual understanding of its philosophy, exemplary practices and its integration into mainly Science, Mathematics and Social Science curricula. After attended a few sessions of the course, the researchers were inspired to plan a human values-based Mathematics lesson to teach directed number involving “computation of integers and decimals using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division”. This article reports on the experience of the researchers in the implementation and evaluation of HVWSHE curriculum integration whereby human values were incorporated in Lower Secondary Mathematics lessons and delivered via problem-based learning approach. Findings of students‟ enhanced knowledge, skills and values/attitudes were also elaborated both qualitatively and quantitatively via descriptive and inferential statistics. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES WITH SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY This study aims to explore the various aspects of the integration of human values-based water education into mathematics curriculum. The following research questions were set as guiding principles towards achieving the objectives of study: How could human values-based water education be incorporated into mathematic lesson via student-centred approaches to encourage their active participation in solving real life problems? How could educator facilitate students‟ meaningful learning with enhanced mathematical knowledge, computer skills and better conceptual understanding of the philosophy of human values-based water education? How to evaluate students‟ learning in human value-based water education with evidences of their enhanced awareness of sustainable water use ethics as well as their perceived levels of values and attitudes towards various issues related to the thematic strands set in the curriculum? To answer the various issues raised as research questions, literature review was made to identify the relevant conceptual framework of study that guide the direction of research activities. REVIEW OF LITERATURE WITH FRAMEWORK OF STUDY Our societies are faced with incessant problems to be solved every day. Although the advent of scientific and technological advancement has resulted in the improvement of the quality of living, some of the excessive developments and harmful scientific and technological inventions have also resulted in the imbalance of ecosystem which threatens the Earth‟s life systems. A significant
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example is industrialization that brought about the many changes in environment and society. Apart from increasing the standards of living, it also created various side effects, for example air and water pollutions. Air pollutions with the emission of sulphurous gas and nitrous gas will eventually falls back to the earth as acid rain. Acid rain again brings with it a host of many other problems. We often read of irresponsible people dumping rubbish into the rivers. Industries and factories are also pumping toxic wastes into the river in great quantity. The contamination of water has caused much problem to the living things and the environment at large (Tan, et al., 2007). Incorporating human values-based water education across curriculum in all subjects It is more effective to treat the sources than to treat the symptoms. As the major damage of the water resources is caused by human beings, thus the crisis can possibly be alleviated in the long run by inculcating human values in basic education. It aims to change the attitudes of the people to value water and live with peace. The following are the 5 core elements of universal human values: (1) “Right conduct”, such as “Cleanliness, Conservation, Courage, Dependability, Duty, Ethics, Goal setting, Good behaviours, Gratitude, Healthy living, Initiative, Leadership, Obedience, Protection, Resourcefulness, Respect, Responsibility, Team work, Will”; (2) “Peace”, including “Attention, Calm, Concentration, Dignity, Discipline, Focus, Happiness, Humility, Inner silence, Self-acceptance, Self-confidence, Self-control, Self-discipline, Service”; (3) “Truth”, encompassing “Accuracy, Curiosity, Discrimination, Equality, Honesty, Integrity, Intuition, Memory, Quest for knowledge, Reason, Self-analysis, Self-awareness, Self-knowledge, Spirit of inquiry, Synthesis, Truthfulness, Understanding, Wise and efficient use of resources”; (4) “Love”, such as “Caring, Concern for others, Consideration, Dedication, Devotion, Empathy, Friendship, Helping, Patience, Sharing, Sincerity, Tolerance”; and (5) “Non-violence” including “Appreciation, Appreciation of other cultures and religions, Awareness, Brotherhood, Caring for all life, Citizenship, Concern, Cooperation, Loyalty, Minimum (natural) awareness, Social justice, Unity, Universal love, Unwillingness to hurt”. (United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 2006).
The rationale of Human Value-based Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (HVWSHE) is to inculcate the human values into the lives of our children from young so that they will grow up to be more caring and responsible adults. Literature revealed that the integration of human values in all subjects and activities could be achieved via various direct and indirect approaches (Jumsai, 2003). Seetharam and Seetharam (2005) suggested that indirect approach for HVWSHE could be achieved via integrating values across the curriculum in all subjects such as science, mathematics and social science. This was reflected in the lesson plans of “Values Integration Developing Young Adults” (VIDYA) in the subject areas incorporating strategies such as discussions, debates, role-play, reporting, games, interviews, charts, to name a few (Seetharam and Seetharam, 2005). Constructivist problem-based learning via alternative assessment techniques The research process in this study involved the constructivist framework by first identifying the various levels of students‟ prior knowledge in mathematical concepts as well as knowledge of the real life problem. Then the researchers designed a relevant mathematics curriculum incorporating human values using problem-based learning (PBL) approach with some computer skills. Finally evaluation of the outcomes of learning was carried out using alternative assessment techniques. The assessment regime or method for HVWSHE is based upon multiple kinds and sources of evidence (Ng, 2007a). Data for this research study could be collected by observation on behavioural change data, interviews, questionnaires, checklists, record keeping, assessment of students‟ output of learning, to name a few. Information could be obtained about students‟ progress towards the desired outcomes of “knowledge, skills and values/attitudes” contributing to
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continued learning as well as attitudinal or behavioural changes (Yeap, 2007). It also enables the reporting of students‟ achievement and planning for further improvement of learning. In brief, the lesson design incorporating constructivist PBL using computer technology may include the following aspects (Ch‟ng, et al., 2007): 1. The teacher could create a context with problem-based scenario e.g. water scarcity in a village and the possibility of threatening the life of the villagers. He/she may play the role as facilitator and would showcase when the needs arised. As this study is anchored on social constructivist perspective, the teacher could provide participatory or social learning opportunities through cultural scaffolding. The emphasis should be on the use of tools in mediating learning that might bring about changes in its underlying values, beliefs and culture (Ng and Fong, 2004). 2. The students could explore the learning issues in groups, integrating their knowledge into the context of the problem. For example, they were to explore how to ration water using mathematical thinking, decision making and computer skills so that other people could have a fair share of the limited water supply. Finally they could summarize their findings incorporating mathematical thinking skills and computer skills, with evidences of their enhanced human values. RESEARCH FOCUS AND DATA COLLECTION PROCESS This section will report on the following research activities in response to the research questions: (1) To plan a Mathematics lesson plan with the following focus areas: (a) conceptual understanding of the five core human values as emphasized in HVWSHE; (b) mathematical knowledge on directed number involving “computation of integers and decimals using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division”; (c) lesson activities using spreadsheet software namely Excel which involve students‟ technological skills to solve everyday real life problem. (d) assessment/evaluation sheets including short questions and pre-/post-test “Water Attitude Scale” (WAS) validated questionnaire (Yeap, et al., 2007) to evaluate students‟ enhanced values and attitudes towards various issues related to the thematic strands of HVWSHE. (2) To select research samples and administer pre-/post-test survey questionnaire before and after the lesson activities. During classroom intervention, observation and interviews were carried out. Students‟ learning output was also collected for documentary analysis after the class. (3) To report evidences of students‟ enhanced knowledge, skills, awareness of sustainable water use ethics and their perceived levels of values/attitudes towards various issues related to the thematic strands set in the curriculum using both: (a) qualitative data including findings from observation, interviews and documentary analysis of students‟ output of learning (e.g. change of attitude); as well as (b) quantitative data via descriptive and inferential statistics, including their responses to structured questions and “Water Attitude Scale” survey questionnaire. Implementing planned actions, sampling, research process and instrumentation Prior to the study, the researchers who were teachers from the Mathematics group had spent several days in planning lesson and designing instructional materials. The lesson plan was developed after the researchers were exposed to several issues concerning water education and human values. The lesson plan for the mathematics lesson stresses on the third thematic strand of HVWSHE curriculum, which is “Water, social equity and human dignity” with the following objectives identified. At the end of the lesson, students should be able to: perform simple computations involving “combined operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of integers” to solve a hypothetical issue concerning water;
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evaluate their water usage using electronic spreadsheet; list out at least one human values in each of the 5 core universal human values; and appreciate human values for survival in the community with scarce water resources. The lesson plan was implemented with estimated duration of one hour in the morning of 23rd May 2007. The researchers delivered the lesson using powerpoint presentation. Whereas the students were exposed with hands-on session using Excel spreadsheet to compute the amount of water use. Five core human values were integrated subtly in the lesson via PBL approach. The activities were to elicit the students‟ higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The students raised various issues through discussions in the process of solving real-life problems. Altogether 27 students with ages between 13 and 14 from a lower secondary Form two class were selected as an intact group of research samples. Due to the constraints faced to try-out the newly designed lesson within limited time frame, the “one-group, pre-test/post-test” research design was chosen with triangulated findings using mix-research methods. This included both quantitative data using the aforementioned WAS evaluation questionnaire, as well as qualitative data collected from classroom observation, interviews and documentary analysis on students‟ learning output, i.e. their responses on spreadsheets and feedback on lesson integrating human values collected from surveys with open-ended questions. The following is the summary of research process: The One-Group, Pre-test, Post-test Design :
O1 X O2
„X‟ represents the exposure of a group to the experimental variable or event and „O‟ refers to the process of observation or measurement (of the desired effect). „X‟ and „Os‟ in a given row refer to the same specific persons (Campbell, 1957 in Suchman, 1967). The use of Likert Scale in WAS ranged from “1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree and 4=Strongly Agree” was employed to obtain responses from students about their perceived levels of values/attitudes towards each item concerning issue related to the thematic strand of HVWSHE curriculum. Prior to the mathematics lesson, the pre-test instruments were administered in another room while preparation was made in the computer laboratory where intervention activities were to be conducted. The pre-test instruments were collected immediately after about 30 minutes. Intervention and data collection activities with evaluation on output of learning The lesson started at around 10.30 am. The first author greeted the students as they entered the computer room and asked them to sit anywhere but preferably near computers that were switched on. The researcher introduced himself and other teachers with brief explanations about the purpose of this study and the philosophy of HVWSHE. The lesson started with a Power Point presentation to show the students the various types of water tank found around the world and locally. Then the researcher pointed out that the water tank normally use in Malaysia is the shape of a cuboid . The students were later requested to form 5 families each consisting of 5 to 6 members, i.e. “A father, mother and 3 or 4 sons”. The students were then confronted with a real life problem which they needed to solve immediately in order to survive with limited water supply. The researcher set the scene for PBL with warnings given to the students that water was scarce and there might not be any more rain for the whole month to come. Several guided attempts led them towards better solutions. Teachers provided scaffolding to help them learn about facts and figures by instilling human values. The pupils explored the concepts of directed numbers in a very contextual and meaningful way. Each family (role-played by students) was given a list of activities that need water use, e.g. brushing teeth, bathing, to name a few. They were to estimate how much water they use for each of the listed activities. The father of each family was asked to total up the family‟s water usage in a separate sheet of paper before they keyed in the data into the spreadsheet to know how much water they had consumed and how many days left before the tank became dried. Figure 1 is a printscreen illustration of water rationing activity using the spreadsheet programme.
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Figure 1: A printscreen illustration of water rationing activity using spreadsheet programme
All the data from each family was then totalled and shown in class using spreadsheet and the teacher explained the situations faced in this PBL activity. The students found that without proper water management, it would be impossible for the scarce water resource to be adequately distributed among citizens in the aspired environmentally sustainable community. The students later realized that everyone must not be selfish. They must always think as members living peacefully in a community as everybody has the human‟s right to enjoy the equal distribution of clean water. Knowing the situation better, each family put their thoughts together to re-budget their water usage. Many of them realised the idea of “community sharing of scarce water resource” when they planned their subsequent water usage. There were requested to respond to the questions in the group worksheets concerning items that elicited their thinking and feeling. The results of their various trials of water usage were analyzed and will be reported in the next section. The lesson concluded with the second author reminded the students of the five core human values and showed how they could memorize it better using the picture in the slide as shown in Figure 2. A song to encourage students to “save water” was also taught by the third author. PEACE
Figure 2: Ways to remember the five core human values using analogy
LOVE TRUTH
Note: (“Peace” is analogous to “Peace of Mind”; ”Truth” is analogous to “Tell the Truth”; ”Love” is analogous to “A Heart Full of Love”; ”Right conduct” is analogous to “Walk the Right Path”; and “Non-violence” is analogous to “Do not Fight”.)
NON VIOLENCE
RIGHT CONDUCT
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS OF FINDINGS This section will present the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data from survey questionnaires, observations and documentary analysis with discussion on findings. The “Water Attitude Scale” questionnaire was analyzed using paired-sample t-test (see also summary in Appendix), with the assumption that the samples did not violate the Levene‟s test for homogeneity of variance and that other test of normality are not violated, as shown in Figure 3 illustrating the normal distribution of the students‟ mean post-test scores. 8
Figure 3: Sample histogram illustrating the bell-shaped curve of the normal distribution of students’ mean post-test scores on their perceived levels of values/attitudes towards HVWSHE related issues
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2 Std. Dev = .21 Mean = 3.26 N = 27.00
0 2.88
3.00
3.13
3.25
3.38
3.50
3.63
Normal distribution of Maths group mean scores for post-test
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Responding to questionnaire items identified under thematic strand 1, “Water and environmentally sustainable development”, students showed significant improvement (with p
