Laptop Initiative in Malaysia: Exploring Mathematics and Science Teachers’ Laptop Use

Abstract

Since 2003, when the medium of instruction was switched from Malay to English, every teacher teaching Mathematics or Science has been provided with a laptop by the Malaysian Ministry of Education to facilitate the teaching-learning of these two subjects. It has been nine years since the laptop initiative was introduced. How are the laptops being used by these teachers in the classroom? Is there a significant difference in the usage of laptops by Mathematics teachers compared with Science teachers? This quantitative study was carried out to test whether a significant difference exists in the usage of laptops among the Mathematics and Science teachers. Survey questionnaires were completed by 354 secondary school teachers from the state of Selangor, Malaysia. An independent t-test was conducted. Based on the finding, there was a significant difference (t(354) = -12.16, p = .0001) between the mean scores for Mathematics teachers (M = 2.18, S.D. = 0.830) and Science teachers (M = 3.32, S.D. = 0.921). It can be concluded that Science teachers use the laptops in teaching- learning process more than the Mathematics teachers. Therefore, appropriate steps should be taken by the government to understand why Mathematics teachers are making less use of laptop computers. More training sessions and more suitable courseware could be provided so that the full benefits of the laptop can be exploited to enhance the teaching-learning of Mathematics.