Views of pre-service elementary teachers on the use of webquest in mathematics teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the views of pre-service elementary teachers on the use of webquest in mathematics teaching with reference to a theoretical framework developed by Dodge in 1995. One hundred forty eight pre-service elementary education teachers were involved in this study. Thirty-eight groups were formed. The number of students in each group varied from 3 to 5. All groups were assigned to create a webquest regarding various topics in mathematics, such as three-dimensional figures, volume, quadrilaterals, triangles, area, perimeter, numbers, operations, fractions. All group members contributed to their own webquests. After the process of creating webquests in a semester, the researcher administered an instrument containing six open-ended questions about the use of webquest in teaching and learning. The analysis of the data and participants’ opinions showed that
the idea of using webquest as a new technique in teaching and learning mathematics was common among the participants who also stated that it could be used to teach in other disciplines. Furthermore, the limitations and benefits of using webquest were also discussed.