Vol. 12(23), pp. 1112-1119, 10 December, 2017 DOI: 10.5897/ ERR2017.3369 Article Number: 5CBA7D766863 ISSN 1990-3839 Educational Research and Reviews Copyright © 2017 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/ERRR Full Length Research Paper Evaluation of use of Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) animations in mathematics education Esra Altintas1*, Şukru Iigun1 and Soner Kucuk2 1Department of Mathematics and Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, Kafkas University, Kars, Turkey. 2Nenehatun Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Igdır, Turkey. Received 5 September, 2017; Accepted 1 November, 2017 This study investigates opinions of Grade 12 students about the use of Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) animations in mathematics lessons. It explores the ways of making mathematics easier and more understandable for students by demonstrating whether or not GIF animations that emerged from the integration of technology into mathematics education appeal to students both visually and educationally, and how mathematics education can be made more visual and educational through GIF animations. Here, survey model was selected and used from research models. The research sample consisted of forty-one science students in two schools (Anatolian High School and Science High School) affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Igdir in the 2016-2017 academic year. 20 GIF animations taken from various local and foreign sites were used as materials. For data gathering, an evaluation form was used in which the participants were asked to assess whether the GIFs were educationally and visually competent, and if not, to express their reasons. The results revealed that five GIF animations were visually inadequate in general by students whereas ten GIF animations were found to be educationally inadequate. The students stated that the reasons for visual inadequacy were: containing foreign words, being too fast, being slow and boring, being colorless and not being understandable. The reasons for educational inadequacy were: not being academically clear and understandable, being confusing, lacking numerical values, writings not being in Turkish, and being irrelevant to everyday life. Students said that they encounter GIF animations more in social media, and were surprised to see GIF animations used in mathematics education, but after the application they thought that it would be useful. Key words: GIF, mathematics education, geometry, visuality, instructiveness. INTRODUCTION Learning environments that are changing along with question multi-learning environments that appeal to more technological and scientific developments bring into than one sensory organ and require interaction with the *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Altintas et al. 1113 student. In addition, it enriches teaching environments by Bingol, 2004). The feeling of motion is created by facilitating the design of teaching materials suitable for juxtaposing same images and graphics with small different student characteristics, and creates efficient differences and displaying these rapidly, and animated learning environments by facilitating access to teaching images and graphics enable us to obtain videos that are environments (Akkoyunlu and Yilmaz, 2005). impossible to capture in real life due to their size, speed A substantial amount of money is spent on technology and complexity (Bingol, 2014). GIF animation is a kind of by schools, families and policymakers with the hope of picture, which is created by displaying a sequence of improving educational outcomes (Bulman and Fairlie, frames (Karadogan and Arslan, 2004), composed of 2016). This is because the ability of students to use several pictures where we see these pictures in information and communication technologies effectively sequence (Bulbul and Ilgun, 2015). Today ‘GIF’ is and efficiently can be achieved through the integration of typically used to mean an animated GIF file or an these technologies into classroom environments (Ozan otherwise short, silent, looping, untitled moving image. It and Tasgin, 2017). In order to be able to educate has a creator who is unknown or deemphasized; it is individuals who access and use information, teachers encountered by an individual viewer on a personal screen should use educational technologies effectively in the where it is surrounded by text and other media; and it is teaching-learning process, have necessary knowledge, shared casually as a form of identity-making, known as a skills and attitudes, and also have teaching environments cinema of affiliation (Eppink, 2014). equipped with adequate educational technologies In the study of Maruya et al. (2016), it was concluded (Adiguzel, 2010). that using a visual stimulus was found to have a Today, the use of technology in educational significant effect. Animation presentation was found to environments is generally done through computers. provide understanding of information and to facilitate Computers are of great importance in terms of bringing learning. Animations must be slow and clear enough for abstract mathematical concepts to the screen and observers to perceive movements, changes, and their materializing them (Baki, 1996). The recall rate of the timing, and to understand the changes in relations information presented in a computer environment is 50% between the parts and the sequence of events (Tversky or more, and all of the learning styles other than motion et al., 2002). and sensory behavior are realized better in the computer In their study, Bulbul and Ilgun (2015) showed 20 environment. This is because the activities in the virtual Animated GIFs to 75 teacher candidates and identified environment assist motor behavior in grasping reality some GIFs as adequate and others as inadequate (4, 7, (Karadogan and Arslan, 2004). 12 and 20). Being incomparable, lack of clarity, faintness, The ability to move mathematical formulas, relations, not having a purpose, not being interesting, lack of and algorithms to the screen facilitates analytical information, discoloration, unnecessary drawing, not understanding while enabling symbolic and graphical using three-dimensional drawing, uneven size or transitions. As calculations, solutions, models, graphics smallness, amateurism of drawings were identified as are transferred to electronic environments; they lead to causes of visual inadequacy. For educational new insights, predictions, generalizations and discoveries inadequacy, lack of information, being too fast, (Baki, 2006). Computer-aided visualization of inappropriate level, wrong information, missing mathematical operations and algorithms that are difficult explanation, wrong arrangement, lack of detail, not being to understand and explain facilitates learning. At this catchy, not being fit for every situation, not being point, some changes and different points of view in provided in a known context, and foreign words were mathematics education have taken place. One of these prominent causes of inadequacy. When these changes is the use of animated Graphics Interchange inadequacies were evaluated, not being clear, Formats (GIFs) in mathematics education. Animated discoloration, being confusing, not being attention GIFs have recently gained more popularity on social grabbing, and being too fast were specified for visual networking sites. But even with advances in video inadequacies; while not being at the appropriate level, not technology and access to higher bandwidth connections, being focused, lack of detail, not having a purpose, tiny low-resolution, silent, motion pictures are increasingly insufficient duration, wrong information and missing popular online. These animated images named as information were brought forward as causes of Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) have become a educational inadequacy. common part of everyday Internet life. Animated GIFs The current study is important in terms of exploring the play increasingly important roles in social media, ways of making mathematics easier and more delivering breaking news, telling stories through photo- understandable for students by demonstrating whether or journalism, and enabling new ways to express emotions not GIF animations that emerge from the integration of (Bakhshi et al., 2016). technology into mathematics education appeal to Animation, interpreted as visualization in Turkey students both visually and educationally, and how (Bingol, 2004), is the artificial animation of many pictures mathematics education can be made more visual and and graphics within certain scenarios (Celik, 2007; educational through GIF animations. In addition, it is 1114 Educ. Res. Rev. thought that this study will serve as a reference for education examination, towards the end of the semester. The study has been carried out with mathematics teacher candidates before making GIFs more suitable, organizing GIFs for by Bulbul and Ilgun (2015), and evaluations of high school students mathematics education, and production of new GIFs that on the topics regarding the GIF animations have been taken within are more suitable for their purpose, by revealing the scope of the present study. In this study, the related GIF advantages and disadvantages, both educational and animations will be assessed by students as both visual and visual, of GIFs that can be used in mathematics lessons educational