INCORPORATING DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN SECONDARY MATHEMATICS FOR ENGAGED LEARNING: A COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH STUDY

Abstract

In my experience, I along with most mathematics teachers are not satisfied with pedagogical practice, student achievement, and engagement in mathematics learning. Most teachers are still transmitting decontextualized mathematical concepts from teachers' minds to students' minds through conventional pedagogy with fixed techniques and fixed algorithms which causes the learners' disengagement is the main problem of the education system in Nepal. So, enhancement in students' engagement, and teachers' pedagogical reformation are significant study challenges. To find an alternative solution to the disengagement problem, I set an objective of the study to use digital storytelling in secondary mathematics teaching as STEAM pedagogy to enhance learners' engagement. Since no study was conducted on digital storytelling in secondary mathematics, the study might contribute to the pedagogical, and educational sectors. Furthermore, to solve the common students' disengagement problem through pedagogical reformation, we used the collaborative effort of five teachers ( apart from me four other teachers), and six students of grade ten in a mathematics class at the government school of the Kailali district of Nepal as collaborative action research study. The study focused on the use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool of STEAM pedagogy in secondary mathematics and observed three types of engagements namely; emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement during the study. The study was conducted from the philosophical standpoint of interpretive and critical paradigm which was guided by Vygotsky's social constructivism theory, and supported by the critical theory of Habermas. The study's major findings were, enhancement of students' engagement (emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagements), and teachers' pedagogical reformation through digital storytelling followed by critical reflection. During the study, passive classrooms were changed into the active classroom, single disciplinary to the integrated learning activity, the solution of textbook problems changed to contextual problem solving, and pedagogical reformation to constructivist pedagogy were observed. Some challenges such as lack of collaboration of all teachers at a time, lack of digital skills, and lack of time management were faced during the study. Use of other artistic pedagogical tools in mathematics teaching, and further studies required in mathematics for a better learning environment in school.