Optimising the content and pedagogy of the mathematics curriculum in vocational education in an information technology environment
Publicado en línea: 03 feb 2025
Recibido: 27 sept 2024
Aceptado: 01 ene 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/amns-2025-0034
Palabras clave
© 2025 Meng Wang et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In China’s new curriculum standards advocate a harmonious and equal teacher-student relationship. However, in traditional vocational education mathematics classroom teaching, the teacher occupies a central position in the classroom, and students can only passively accept knowledge, and there is a lack of effective interaction between teachers and students. At present, the world of mathematics has been with the development of information technology day by day to move forward. Mathematics teaching and information technology promote each other and are closely integrated so that students learn mathematics to be more realistic, more vivid, and closer to life. The integration of information technology and mathematics curriculum for mathematics education has brought a new impetus [1–4].
Currently, in the field of education, information technology has been widely used in the teaching of various disciplines, and with convenient, flexible, rich and other characteristics to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning and contribute to the cultivation of students’ comprehensive ability. Vocational education mathematics courses have strong logic and abstraction. Teachers should make full use of information technology to optimize the form of mathematics teaching, reduce the difficulty of students’ learning, improve teaching efficiency, and cultivate their core mathematical literacy [5–8]. The use of information technology for mathematics teaching can effectively stimulate students’ willingness to explore independently and help them learn more actively and positively. At the same time, information technology breaks through the limitations of the classroom and realises learning anytime, anywhere. The construction of a mathematics curriculum is no longer limited to in-class teaching but extends to the construction of extracurricular resources and network learning platforms [9–11]. In the network environment, the use of information technology for teaching can effectively change the way students learn mathematics so that teaching is no longer confined to teaching in the classroom and the teacher’s knowledge transfer. Students can get the information they need through multiple channels through the network technology after class, to cultivate their sense of innovation and the spirit of inquiry [12–15].
Literature [16] not only introduced some of the tools and platforms for information-based teaching but also formulated an information-based teaching strategy based on the optimization and integration of teaching materials and proposed an effective feedback mechanism through the classroom practice of information-based teaching, and the results of the study have a greater value of sharing and promotion, which has a facilitating effect on the cultivation of high-quality talents. Literature [17] designed a math lesson plan design system based on data-driven decision-making technology, and confirmed its effectiveness through experiments, as shown in the system has good practical effects, which is of great significance for improving the quality of math teaching. Literature [18] emphasized the role of Internet information technology in promoting the reform of higher mathematics classroom teaching, discussed the use of Internet information technology in mathematics teaching in view of task-driven, and described its specific use in detail. Literature [19] aims to understand the impact of the development of teachers’ teaching methods in the field of computer science and their ability to use information technology in the teaching of mathematics on the development of students’ cognitive interests. The structure and content of “Information Technology in Mathematics Education” was developed, and its feasibility was verified by determining the usefulness of mathematical information systems in teaching and learning the requirements of information technology for teaching and learning activities. Literature [20] focuses on the role of teachers and ICT media in mathematics learning in the digital age. A literature review was conducted utilizing a descriptive qualitative research type to describe the role of educational innovation in digital technology-based learning. The decomposition structure states that mastery of ICT is an important indicator of teacher competence. Literature [21] lies in exploring the role of information technology in mathematics teaching and learning, emphasizing the importance of integrating knowledge and information technology in the teaching of mathematics in higher education and using dialogue, observation, and bibliometric methods to explore and make practical recommendations for the results. Literature [22] describes the opportunities and challenges that information technology presents to educators in learning and teaching mathematics. The analysis of the literature revealed that the opportunities are in terms of enhancing students’ interest and performance and promoting positive interactions, while the challenges are in terms of teachers’ lack of IT skills and limited technical support, and made recommendations for teachers’ skills training and technical support.
Literature [23] explored the use of ICT in mathematics education as a whole. The use of major ICTs such as handheld technology and e-learning in practical teaching and its positive impact on students’ learning of mathematics is described. Literature [24] demonstrated the effectiveness of ICT by comparing its use with traditional teaching methods in teaching mathematics. A survey of 120 students was conducted and statistically analyzed using a post-test equivalent group design, and the results proved that ICT is more effective in teaching mathematics as compared to traditional teaching methods. Literature [25] mentions that the use of ICT in the teaching of mathematics has had a positive impact. Thus, the use of this technology by teachers while engaging in teaching and learning activities helps to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning, while the utilization of technology by students facilitates the understanding of teaching and learning knowledge. Literature [26] studied Ghana by reporting a study to find out the feasibility of the use of information technology in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Data from interviews and surveys were used to show that mathematics teachers in Ghana do not value the use of information technology, the main factors of which are poor information technology skills, lack of training, etc. Literature [27] suggests an “unrestricted application” of IT in mathematics education. A bibliometric analysis of the literature suggests that research in this area has been characterized as “less collaborative”, with the main direction of research being in the areas of e-learning and real-world mathematics education, and recommendations are made in this regard.
In this paper, after sorting out the optimal role of information technology in mathematics education in vocational colleges and universities, the teaching methods, principles and teaching cases of information technology, we conducted a questionnaire survey on students and collected data through statistical software, analysed and processed the data to explore the prevalence of information technology in mathematics teaching in vocational colleges and universities, and the degree of students’ acceptance of the use of information technology in mathematics teaching in vocational colleges and universities and the functions played by the use of information technology outside the classroom. Functions performed using information technology. Comparative experiments and independent samples t-tests were used to evaluate the effect of IT teaching on the improvement of students’ mathematical computational skills in vocational colleges.
Information technology is an umbrella term for all technologies that manage and process information. It includes technological elements such as sensing, computing, intelligence, communication, and control. It uses computer knowledge and communication technology to provide services related to other social sector activities. As far as classroom teaching is concerned, it mainly helps in collecting resources, processing content, building classrooms, and achieving goals. At present, education informatisation includes both computer and internet technologies, but also emerging technologies such as cloud computing, big data, mobile internet, Internet of Things, virtual simulation, 3D printing, and so on.
Education informatisation refers to the school’s efforts to improve the level of informatisation, in carrying out classroom teaching activities, the scientific use of computer multimedia, educational resource databases and network communications and other technologies, to comprehensively promote the classroom teaching methods to change the development of education, to adapt to the new era of the people’s increasingly higher requirements for education. The optimization of education supported by information technology involves adopting new and effective strategies for classroom teaching using convenient information technology tools to enhance classroom teaching activities and efficiency.
The process of educational development supported by technology includes traditional, electrified, digital, and smart education. Information technology can optimize the creation of scenarios, the presentation of content, and student participation, providing possibilities for changes in learning styles. The support and use of network-based digital educational resources build information technology education methods to guide students in carrying out modular and systematic learning at different levels of knowledge in all academic segments. Information technology has become an important support for educational activities, and technical equipment has become a carrier of knowledge and an integral part of teaching. Information technology provides strong support for the change of learning styles, and mobile learning and flipped classrooms have become inevitable. Information technology can change the environment of education, change the way educational resources are allocated, and strengthen communication at all levels. Educational activities are more convenient, and teachers and students of all kinds of teaching and learning are also more efficient. Information technology is changing the educational environment. In the age of information technology, the traditional campus, classroom, and other educational environments are being transformed into a new educational environment composed of network architecture, digital technology, and intelligent devices. In the new educational environment, the educational resources of the whole society are integrated to the greatest extent possible, forming a completely open educational platform, which in turn requires the generation of new and more optimal educational methods.
The basic characteristics of information technology are shown schematically in Figure 1. In traditional education, the completion of education and teaching must depend on entities such as schools. In an IT-supported educational environment, however, educators not only need to master the basic IT tools but also need to use the concept of informatisation to examine and guide the various aspects and areas of the education and teaching process. Information technology has changed the way educational resources are allocated. The education system will no longer be limited to the traditional sense of campus and classroom. Traditional schools, network colleges, virtual open schools, etc., together constitute an integral part of the education system. Educated people can learn not only through the traditional face-to-face way to obtain knowledge but also with the help of computers, the network that allows them to receive education in other places distributed around the world. Students and teachers can be in a virtual classroom at the same time for studying and discussion. E-schools will be integrated into our lives, which is the fundamental trend of development. Of course, for the time being, school education is still the main form of education. The main focus of education optimization is on school education to carry out research, and other ways as an effective complement.
Basic characteristics of information technology
Information packaging refers to the design of mathematics teaching content, as far as possible, the mathematical learning object in the multiple representation of information designed to activate students’ cognition, promote students’ understanding of the meaningful “information packages” or information blocks in the actual teaching, through the information of the learning material packaging design, as far as possible, so that the learning material has a depth of meaning. In the actual teaching, through the information packaging design of learning materials, make the learning materials as much as possible with deep meaning so as to reduce the external load and internal load of learning materials as a whole and increase the effective load at the same time.
The principle of temporal proximity refers to the fact that the two main representations of the same mathematical object should be presented as synchronously or proximally as possible rather than asynchronously or intermittently when the information is packaged and processed.
The principle of spatial proximity refers to the fact that in mathematics teaching and learning, for a variety of related information involved in the same mathematical object, the information should be presented in spatial proximity according to a certain logical order. On the contrary, if the related information of the same mathematical object is presented separately, it is easy to distract the learners’ attention, and the learners need to integrate the separated information in the brain again, which increases the external load.
The principle of consistency refers to the fact that in the design of mathematics teaching, the “information package” presented by the mathematical learning object and the mathematical object itself should have a similar or the same structure. That is, the two should maintain structural consistency.
The principle of dual-channel refers to the packaging of information, as far as possible, the “information package” with visual representations and auditory representations, as far as possible to make the learners of multiple senses in a state of excitement, to improve learning efficiency.
Material to enhance the context of the problem strategy refers to the content of mathematics teaching and learning content processing, the straightforward mathematical problems and material to packaged design, as far as possible, for students to create a more relevant and appropriate scenario, so that the “problem” has a mathematical “flavor”, to restore the essence of the mathematical problem, often used in the introduction of teaching. Restore the essence of math problems, often used in the introduction of teaching. To engage students, a good problem situation should be in line with the time’s characteristics, closely connected to the real world, and close to the unique mathematical situation. The problem situation created can be based on the knowledge and experience of students, as well as their knowledge of different subjects or the history of mathematics. The purpose is, on the one hand, to mobilize students’ enthusiasm and, on the other hand, mainly to let the learners sense that the existing knowledge and experience can no longer solve the new problems, that is, to produce cognitive conflict with the existing knowledge, so as to stimulate the students’ desire for knowledge. In addition, the mathematical software in information technology also has the function of mathematically modeling the operation object. Here, teachers can use information technology to package materials to design, for students to restore the nature of mathematical problems, to help students understand mathematical problems, but also with the help of information technology to realize the virtualization and dynamization of the problem situation.
For example, in the teaching of Exponential Functions, which is shown in Figure 2, a well-designed problem situation is very necessary to motivate students and increase their desire for knowledge. Therefore, by letting students do hands-on work, guide students to observe and think about the question “the relationship between the number of folds and the number of layers of paper obtained”. “After how many folds, the number of layers can reach the height of Mount Everest”. On the one hand, students can be quickly mobilized, as soon as possible into the exponential function learning. On the other hand, hands-on origami and Mount Everest and other materials for the exponential function of the learning background is a mathematical problem contextualized, full of mathematical “taste”. Through information technology, and then can dynamically show the origami process and guide the analysis to highlight the key variable number of times and the relationship between the number of layers of paper. Set up a series of questions: for example, the number of times the paper is folded for 1 time, the number of layers? What is the number of layers when the number of folds is 2? What is the number of layers when the number of folds is 3? What is the number of layers when the number of folds is 4? What is the number of layers when the number of times the paper is folded is 100? Here, 100 times, the students did not fold directly, and the existing conflict guided them to find the law.
Teaching design
Another example is in the “exponential function” teaching. Its teaching design, as shown in Figure 3 in the introduction of the fragment, can be designed for students familiar with the biological knowledge of the number of cell divisions and the number of cell divisions as the introduction to the exponential function model. On the one hand, the teaching can be set by the question, “The number of cell divisions is 1, the number of cell divisions?”. “The number of cell divisions is 2, the number of cell divisions is?” etc., from the specific case step by step to the division of the abstract number of x when the number of cells is how many. On the other hand, the use of information technology can assist in restoring the process of cell division and help students observe the relationship between the change in the number of cells and their size.
Teaching design
The concept of deep integration of information technology and teaching is committed to creating an information environment that can be learned everywhere so that the promotion of information technology in subject teaching can generally penetrate the classroom and outside, so the universality of information technology in mathematics teaching in vocational colleges is an important content to measure the level of integration.
The questionnaire survey was utilized to examine and evaluate the actual situation of information technology usage and the learning effects of students in the mathematics course of S vocational colleges. Design a questionnaire to analyze the basic situation and characteristics of students.
The results are shown in Figure 4, options 1~5: not at all, basically not with, not sure, basically with and completely with. In the general use outside of the classroom, 70.6% of students chose “fully compliant”, 25% selected “basically compliant”, and “not at all compliant”. And “basically not” students accounted for only 2.1% of the total. The results of these two surveys show that information technology has been widely used in mathematics classroom teaching in vocational colleges. To realize the deep integration of information technology and mathematics teaching in vocational colleges, information technology should not only play a role outside the classroom but also provide convenience and help for students’ mathematics learning in the classroom. Therefore, through the questionnaire question “In the classroom, information technology such as the Internet will serve your mathematics learning” to understand the extent to which information technology is used to provide services to students in the classroom, the obtained data results, can be seen that more than half (61%) of the students chose “fully compliant”, 26.7% of the students chose “basically yes”, and only 2.5% of the students chose “not at all” or “basically not”. The data indicates that the use of information technology to assist students in their mathematics education in the classroom has become widespread.
The universality of use inside and outside the classroom
Student attitudes surveyed by the Institute refer to the degree to which students approve of the use of information technology in the teaching of mathematics in vocational colleges. In this regard, the survey was conducted from three aspects: the recognition of teachers’ use of information technology in the classroom, the recognition of teachers’ use of information technology to assist in the classroom, and the recognition of the use of information technology outside the classroom for self-directed learning of mathematics. According to the questionnaire survey data, we can see that students tend to like the use of information technology in mathematics teaching in vocational colleges as a whole. As shown in Table 1, 25.0% and 62.8% of the students chose “somewhat liked” and “strongly liked” the teachers’ use of information technology in the classroom, respectively. That is, 87.8% of the students showed a preference for the teacher’s use of information technology in the classroom. 0.7% of students chose “not at all,” and 3.0% chose “not very much”, i.e., only 3.7% of students showed a tendency to dislike it overall. The remaining 8.5% of the students chose “it doesn’t matter” with a vague attitude. As for the teacher’s use of information technology to provide help outside the classroom, 29.8% of the students chose “somewhat liked”, 57.3% of the students chose “very like”, 9.3% of the students were neutral and thought “it doesn’t matter”, while only 2.8% and 0.8% of the students chose “not very much” and “not at all”, respectively, which shows that the majority (87.1%) of the students showed a tendency to like the teacher’s use of information technology to help their mathematics learning outside the classroom. For the use of information technology to learn mathematics outside the classroom, 20.9% of the students said, “I like it very much”, 51.9% of the students said, “I like it a lot”, 10.1% of the students chose “it doesn’t matter”, and 17.1% of the students showed a tendency to dislike this kind of method (9.6% did not like it at all, and 7.5% did not like it very much). Through the analysis of the three sets of data, it is found that the proportion of students who show a tendency to like is higher than the proportion of students who show a tendency to dislike under different circumstances, which shows that students generally show a recognized attitude towards the use of information technology in mathematics teaching in vocational colleges.
The acceptance table of information technology
| Totally dislike | Not very much | It doesn’t | Like | Very like | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The recognition of the use of information technology in the classroom | 0.7% | 3.0% | 8.5% | 25.0% | 62.80% |
| The recognition of the use of information technology outside the classroom | 0.8% | 2.8% | 9.3% | 29.8% | 57.30% |
| The recognition of Chinese language is used outside the classroom | 9.6% | 7.5% | 10.1% | 51.9% | 20.90% |
Table 2 shows the benefits of teachers using information technology outside the classroom in terms of cognitive development. From the perspective of students’ choice of specific topics, 30.8% of teachers will “occasionally” use information technology to recommend excellent mathematics learning resources for students, 45.7% of teachers will use it “sometimes”, 14.2% will use it “often”, and in this regard, there are relatively few teachers who “never” or “always” use information technology (9.3% in total). The average score of this question is about 2.642, which is slightly lower than the median value of 3, which is not high. In terms of communication and interaction, from the perspective of specific topics, only 1.3% of the students said that teachers would “often” use information technology such as the Internet to actively communicate with themselves and discuss the questions and gains in mathematics learning, and 0.7% of the students said that teachers “always” used them, both of which were far lower than the proportion of students who chose “never” and “occasionally”, and the average score of this topic was about 1.925, which was lower than the median value of 3 one standard deviation, and the level was low. In terms of evaluation feedback, it can be seen from the specific questions that 60.0% of the students said that teachers “never” use information technology to evaluate and give feedback on their mathematics learning, while only 1.1% chose “often” and “always”, and the average score of this question was about 1.6185, which was far lower than the median value of 3 one standard deviation, and the level was low.
Statistics on the function of external information technology
| Project | Topic | Percentage | Mean value | Standard deviation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive development | Teachers will recommend excellent learning resources in the extracurricular activities, such as articles, books, microclasses, etc. | Never | 8.4% | 2.642 | 0.8324 |
| Occasionally | 30.8% | ||||
| Sometimes | 45.7% | ||||
| Often | 14.2% | ||||
| Always | 0.9% | ||||
| Communication | Will the teacher use the information technology such as the network to communicate with you and discuss the questions and rewards of the literature | Never | 40.1% | 1.925 | 0.8247 |
| Occasionally | 33.8% | ||||
| Sometimes | 27.3% | ||||
| Often | 1.3% | ||||
| Always | 0.7% | ||||
| Evaluation feedback | Will the teacher be able to evaluate and feedback on your learning by means of online information technology | Never | 60.0% | 1.6185 | 0.8652 |
| Occasionally | 21.3% | ||||
| Sometimes | 19.4% | ||||
| Often | 0.6% | ||||
| Always | 0.5% | ||||
In this study, a comparative experiment was conducted and a total of 30 students from S Vocational College were selected as the sample for the study. Among them, 17 were male students, and 13 were female students. To ensure the scientificity and accuracy of the research experiment, a scientific pre-test questionnaire was conducted before the implementation of this study. Thirty questionnaires were distributed, and 30 questionnaires were returned. The recovery rate of the questionnaires was 100%, and the validity rate was 100%. The pre-test questionnaire consisted of 44 items. Among them, there were 25 questions in the math aptitude test items and 19 questions in the English listening comprehension test items.
After the implementation of the study, the revised Chinese Mathematical Computing Ability Scale was finally used as a measurement tool to evaluate the mathematical computing ability of the students of Pre-S vocational colleges and universities, and the data of the study were obtained after sample analysis. The three phases of data collection lasted three months, which included pre-initial data, mid-term experimental data, and post-experimental data. The study’s results were obtained by comparing the changes in the three sets of experimental data. The data software SPSS 22.0 was used as a data statistics and analysis tool to measure and evaluate whether the mathematical computation skills of the students of S vocational colleges and universities in the pre-, mid- and post-periods were improved. Firstly, descriptive statistical analysis was used in this study, and then paired t-tests were conducted on the study samples to verify whether the mathematical computation ability of the students of S vocational colleges and universities was improved in the pre-, mid- and post-periods of the study on the basis of the results of the data statistics and analyses.
According to the results of the descriptive statistical analysis of the research data of the students of S vocational colleges in the early stage of the study, as shown in Figure 5, the mean value of the early stage of the study is M=2.943214, which is more than the average value of 2.5. Among them, the maximum value is 3.2941, and the minimum value is 2.6522. On the whole, the students of S vocational colleges’ mathematical computational skills are a little bit poorer, which is lower than the threshold value of 3.0, and it needs to be improved.
Descriptive statistical analysis
The posterior side of the students of S Vocational College was conducted at the later stage of the study for descriptive statistical analysis using paired samples t-test. A total of 30 questionnaires were distributed. Among them, the recovery rate and validity rate were 100%. The sample mean M=3.18852 exceeded the mean value of 2.5, the maximum value was 3.459, and the minimum value was 2.0628. Overall, the mathematical computation ability of the students of S vocational colleges and universities has been improved after the research practice, which is slightly higher than the critical value of 3.0. Thus, it indicates that the research has been achieved by the study. There is a tendency to improve the mathematical computation abilities of students at vocational colleges and universities. There is a certain degree of enhancement in the maximum (maximum and minimum) values from the pre, medium to the post. In terms of the mean value, the score of mathematical ability of the students of vocational colleges and universities in the pre-, mid- and post-periods of the study ranges from 2.943 to 3.189, and the standard deviation and variance values are within a reasonable range. It indicates that the mathematical computational skills of the students have been improved.
Eventually, the study after the pre, mid and late data statistics and analysis to obtain data results as shown in Table 3, T-test concomitant probability of Sig value is less than the significance of 0.01, proving that students’ mathematical ability variance in the two stages of the pre- and mid-term, mid-term and late stages show significant differences, that is, the variance is not uniform. Its two-sided test probability of significance P is 0.001 less than 0.05, rejecting the original hypothesis, indicating that there is a significant difference in the level of mathematical ability in the two phases of the pre- and mid-term, mid-term and post-phase, and the level of mathematical ability of students of vocational colleges and universities in the post-phase is better than that of the pre- and mid-term phases. T-values of -4.622 and -7.148 are negative, respectively, which indicates that students of vocational colleges and universities in the S have improved their mathematical ability.
Sample matching t test
| Pair difference | T | Sig. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | Standard deviation | Standard error mean | Confidence interval of 95% difference | ||||
| Lower limit | Upper limit | ||||||
| Pre-mid-school students’ mathematical ability | -0.0594 | 0.0701 | 0.0142 | -0.0854 | -0.0315 | -4.622 | 0.001 |
| Middle and secondary college students’ mathematical ability | -0.195 | 0.152 | 0.0262 | -0.245 | -0.133 | 7.148 | 0.001 |
This paper uses information technology to optimise the problem of contextual strategies for material enhancement problems in mathematics education and analyses the current status of the use of information technology in mathematics teaching with the help of a questionnaire. Independent samples t-tests were used to analyse the performance of IT mathematics teaching in the pre-, mid-and post-periods and conclusions were drawn:
61% of the students believe that information technology is now commonly used within the classroom, achieving a deeper integration of information technology and mathematics teaching in vocational colleges. Inside and outside the classroom, the majority of students enjoy the use of information technology in the teaching of mathematics in vocational colleges and universities. Outside the classroom, teachers’ use of information technology plays a minor role in cognitive development, communication and interaction, and evaluation and feedback. Information technology has improved the mathematical computation skills of students in vocational colleges and universities.