A learning system for matrix operations by interactive drilling

Abstract

In this study, we have designed and implemented a Web-based learning system for matrix operations to fill in the gap between the curricula of high schools and scientific or engineering universities in Japan. The system is based on drilling and it provides remedial education so that freshmen in scientific or engineering universities in Japan are able to acquire knowledge required for university education. The system consists of two sub parts, textbook and drilling. The former is for teaching the definitions related to matrices and operations defined on matrices to students while the latter is for teaching rules of the operations to the students. We have carried out a small evaluation experiment with ten participants who are all students in arts faculties of universities and have not learned matrices in high schools nor in universities. From the result of the experiment, we observed that the system has equivalent learning effect to the paper-based learning. Furthermore, from the answers of a questionnaire, the participants who learned by our system are affirmative for using the system to learn matrix operations.