Pupils’ Profiles of Social Media Usage in Mathematics with a Special Look at Facebook

Resumen

The presence of social media platforms in secondary students’ daily life is growing on but it may appear difficult to know which ones are more convenient for academia, particularly among secondary school pupils who are commonly substantial internet-based life clients. This study seeks to understand Zambian pupils’ profiles of social media usage, in particular, in mathematics learning environments, mainly focusing on Facebook. Primary data sources were collected using a validated questionnaire from 288 participants at Wusakile Secondary School in Kitwe comprising of Grade 11 and Grade 12 pupils. Results revealed that Facebook was the most widely used application and that there was no statistically significant difference in pupils’ mathematics Facebook usage based on gender while there was when considering grade level. Results also indicated that Grade 11 pupils’ mean scores for social media usage were higher than those from Grade 12 pupils. Finally, results show that in the absence of mathematics classroom instructions, some pupils are also having mathematics discussions outside the classroom by means of social media, particularly on Facebook, although this academic use is still far from being relevant.