Effect of Applying Social Networking to Mathematics Course for Junior High School Students

Taiwan is going to start 12-year compulsory education in 2014, so education strategies once again become an important issue for research and discussion. The current study used the web-based cooperative learning with Windows Live as a teaching strategy to teach Mathematics course in a junior high school in Taiwan. The subjects, 3 classes of first-year students, were divided into experimental group and control group based on the average scores of their previous tests. For 12 weeks, the experimental group received experimental instruction with Windows Live, while the control group was taught with traditional teaching method. Pre-test and post-test of learning achievement were conducted on both groups, and an additional questionnaire was answered by the experimental group. The data from this study, analyzed by ANCOVA, showed that the group receiving Windows Live web-based cooperative learning obtained significantly higher achievement than the group learning with traditional teaching method. The research result thus indicates that Windows Live web-based cooperative learning is an effective teaching strategy in enhancing students' achievement.