Teaching-Learning Mathematics in a Virtual Environment. Empirical Evidence in Scenarios of Higher Education

Abstract

Tomorrow's citizens must have the basic tools necessary for total development. Among these tools are mathematics and technology. In the present research we propose taking advantage of technology for teaching-learning mathematics. The objective is to determine whether a Virtual Leaning Environment (VLE) for mathematics can diminish the indexes of failing and improve academic performance. The study has a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group. The participants are engineering students at the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (Technological Institute of Sonora), Mexico. 68 students participated in the experimental group and 60 in the control group. The experimental group studied academic subjects using VLE while the control group studied in a classroom with a professor who explained the concepts. The results show significant difference in the index of failing and academic performance. The implementation of VLE for mathematics would be beneficial to the extent that it is designed using pedagogical practices within a context supported by technology.