| This study aims not only to develop a new Task-Based Learning Model but also to test its applicability.A new approach based on cognitivism and constructivism was developed in teaching mathematics to high school students.The applicability of this model was tested at three high schools from Kalaymyo,Sagaing Division in Myanmar.From this viewpoint,the research is intended to study the feasibility of a task-oriented learning paradigm for problem-solving student skills as student-centered teaching and learning approach based on constructivist theory.In this approach,students need some time to process the information in their heads without being swayed by their classmates' views.At other moments,peers will benefit from each other in the sense of individuals they are not personally associated with.Group and team structures are beneficial for involving pupils,sharing thoughts,and having a higher degree of thought.Therefore,the researcher concluded that task-based learning environments could enhance students' problem-solving skills and improve their mathematics learning.By adopting the model,mathematics teachers can save time and labor and help develop teaching practices.The task-based learning model(TBLM)consists of twelve main components.These are Identifying Goals for Instructional Curriculum,Determining of Cognitive Demands,Setting up Tasks Features,Explaining the Enactment of Task Features,Processing of Students' Cognitive,Understanding the Problem,Planning the Strategies,Solving the Problem,Presenting the Solutions from each Group,Correction,Reflecting,Performing High Cognitive Level Problems.In the task-based learning model,students were learning the concepts using task materials which means learning by doing with collaborative efforts in each group.So,they were getting concept mapping skills,inquiry skills,and problem-solving skills to solve facing problems in real life.The teacher is just only the facilitator.In providing feedback or reflecting sections,the students freely presented their thoughts and ideas to their friends and teacher.However,in formal teaching,the teacher gave the concepts directly to students.Students were able to solve familiar problems,but they weren't able to solve unseen problems.There is no providing feedback or reflecting delayed students and no discussion time in formal teaching.Both quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted to obtain the required data.The design adopted in this study was one of quasi-experimental design,namely,nonequivalent control group design.Three sample schools,all from Kalaymyo,were selected by the simple random sampling method.The subjects were selected 60 Grade 10 students from HS4,58 Grade 10 students from HS6,and 52 Grade 10 students from HS7.Two school groups were also assigned as experimental and control groups using a simple random sampling method.Intact groups were taught with the Task-Based Learning Model,while the control groups were taught the same concept using the Formal Teaching Method.All instruments used in this study were pretest and posttest for the quantitative study and classroom observation protocol,interview scheme,and questionnaires for qualitative study.Learning materials were selected from the Grade 10 mathematics textbook.To measure the prior knowledge of the selected sample,a pretest was administered before the treatment was provided.The mean scores of experimental groups were not significantly higher than the mean scores of a control group in two selected schools HS4 and HS7.It was shown that there was no significant difference between the control group and experimental group for the pretest scores on overall mathematics achievement in each school.However,the intact group's mean score was significantly higher than that of the control group in HS6.It showed a significant difference between the control and intact groups for the pretest scores on overall mathematics achievement in HS6.Based on the total pretest scores,the posttest means scores for comparison between the experimental and control groups in HS4 and HS7 were determined using an independent sample t-test,but a comparison of the post-test mean scores between the experimental and control groups in HS6 using one-way ANCOVA.In posttest scores,the mean scores of the experimental group and control group on posttest understanding level were(12.20),(13.20)in HS4 and(12.24),(12.63)in HS7,respectively.According to F(1,55)=1.517,p=.223,partial eta squared=.027 and the adjusted means were(13.48),(14.19)in HS6.For understanding level,among three selected schools,all three schools showed that the use of a task-based learning model had no significant effect on Grade 10 Students ' problem-solving skills.The mean scores of the intact group and control group in performing applying level questions in HS4 were(11.67)and(11.03),and in HS7 was(15.16)and(10.37)respectively.According to F(1,55)=12.565,p=.001,partial eta squared=.186 and the adjusted means were(13.52),(11.81)in HS6.For application level,among three selected schools,HS4 showed that using a task-based learning model had not a significant effect on applying level of Grade 10 Students for problem-solving skills.However,in HS6 and HS7,the use of task-based learning models had a significant effect on Grade 10 students' problem-solving skills.The mean scores of the intact group and control group for analyzing questions in HS4 was(15.67)and(7.77)and in HS7 was(14.60)and(8.70)respectively.According to F(1,55)=69.431,p=.000,partial eta squared=.558 and the adjusted means were(13.48),(14.19)in HS6.For analyzing level,among three selected schools,all three schools showed that the use of a task-based learning model had a significant effect on Grade 10 Students ' problem-solving skills.The mean scores of the experimental group and control group in performing overall level posttest questions in HS4 were(40.67)and(31.07)and in HS7 was(42.00)and(31.70)respectively.According to F(1,55)=18.496,p=.000,partial eta squared=.252 and the adjusted means were(41.81),(36.61)in HS6.To sum up,among three selected schools,all three schools showed that using a task-based learning model had a significant effect on the overall level of Grade 10 students for problem-solving skills.Therefore,it can be interpreted that the experimental group's achievement is higher than that of the control group.The results of the quantitative study and the qualitative study support their significant hypotheses.In a foremost quantitative study,the mean scores of experimental groups were not significantly higher than the mean scores of the control group on all selected schools' understanding levels.In applying level,the mean scores of experimental groups were not significantly higher than the mean scores of the control group in HS4 but significantly between two groups in HS6 and HS7.The mean scores of experimental groups were significantly higher than the mean scores of the control group on an analyzing level in all selected schools.To sum up,among three selected schools,all three schools showed that using a task-based learning model had a significant effect on the overall level of Grade 10 students' problem-solving skills.Therefore,it can be concluded that there was a significant difference in the mathematics achievement between the students who were taught with the Task-Based Learning Model of teaching mathematics and those who were taught with formal instruction.Following for qualitative study,firstly,the results of the overall average scores in each classroom observation are such as(86)in HS4,(88)in HS6,and(89)in HS7.Thus,activities that used the task-based learning model can be interpreted as the reformed oriented teaching method by Sawada et al.,(2002).Because the results of all the overall average scores in each school are more significant than(60)which leads to reform-oriented instruction.Secondly,in the attitude and practices to teaching math survey by McDougall(2004),the teachers who participated in the experimental group are having better scores than the control teachers in all ten dimension questionnaires.High scores are obtained because they use a task-based learning model that is compatible with a reformed,driven teaching system.Thirdly,in the results of teacher interviews,each teacher prepared their teaching activities based on all steps of the Task-Based Learning Model.It can be interpreted that each teacher gave problem-solving skills for their students by connecting with the content and contextual life.Thus,in the responses from students' questionnaires for fourthly,they are confident to solve in facing unfamiliar problems.They are happy while solving problems within a collaborative group.From this,they are getting the good habits respecting within each other.If interpreting,they would like to use problem-solving skills through a task-based learning model in their daily life.According to the research findings,it is hoped that this Task-Based Learning Model can help to some extent for mathematics teaching.Through this new model,the students will attain mathematics concepts easily and happily.They can classify objects and ideas,and then they can derive rules and principles.It will not be necessary for students to memorize answers or formulas to figure them out.They can figure out answers and formulas by themselves because they know why things work.It will also be beneficial to teachers.The teachers will realize how to teach mathematics concepts to attain and implement learning activities based on the Task-Based Learning Model.In this way,teachers can provide many opportunities for students to develop mathematical problem-solving skills.Therefore,it can be said that this study will also serve as a future reference for researchers in other subject areas.In mathematics and other subjects,material tasks are the essential building bridge for understanding.Based on these findings,the researchers can do further research on the Task-Based Learning Model's effectiveness. |
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