Doctoral Thesis
The importance of teaching and learning mathematics should be given special priority for the development of the country. Continuing to teach mathematics in the traditional way makes the learning inactive and the students dislike the subject. With this in mind, the secondary schools need to integrate ICT and pedagogy to improve teaching and learning of mathematics. Hence, this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Learning Management System (LMS) for fostering teaching and learning mathematics in secondary schools. The study employed a mixed method approach which comprised both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study design was governed by quasi-experimental for quantitative data and descriptive phenomenology for qualitative data. The major findings of the study showed that the traditional way of teaching and learning mathematics is the main reason of massive students’ failure of mathematics in secondary schools in Zanzibar. The findings also revealed that the customization of Moodle LMS features and courseware development by integrating pedagogical skills and teaching tricks from experienced mathematics teachers motivated and engaged students in learning mathematics. In addition to that, the study found that the students who were taught mathematics using the customized Moodle LMS performed better than those who were taught mathematics using the traditional chalk and talk teaching methods. This was so only if the extraneous variables that affected some students such as poor simplification techniques were maintained. The main contribution of the study was that it had confirmed that the adoption of Moodle LMS was an effective means for improving the teaching and learning of mathematics in secondary schools. The study recommended that the strategies should be implemented to adopt Moodle LMS in Zanzibar secondary schools. Lastly, the study concluded that time had come for Zanzibar secondary schools to adopt the innovative approach of teaching and learning mathematics using the technology that had shown positive results in this study.