Two modalities of research design's workshops -long and short- were developed to qualify 658 Hispanamerican research workers, whom were divided into 30 groups, and were applyied along ten years. The terminal efficiency of the workshops was measured with a pre-post-test design and the differences were assessed with a t-test -for dependent samples-. The results showed that the values of the post-test were higher -p ≤ 0.001- than the pretest averages. Contrasting the two workshop versions, the average of the long workshop was significantly higher -p ≤ 0.001- than the short one, by means of a multiple pre-post-test design and the t-test for independent samples. Using Solomon four-group design it was feasible to establish that the significant increase of knowledge about research designs was not influenced by the interaction of the pretest and treatment factors and there was not observed any significant difference between both versions. / Se aplicaron dos modalidades de talleres de investigación -corta y larga- para habilitar por espacio de diez años a 658 investigadores hispanoamericanos, divididos en 30 grupos. La eficiencia terminal de los talleres fue medida con un diseño de pre y post-test y las diferencias con una prueba t-Student -para muestras dependientes-. Los resultados mostraron que los valores del post-test eran más elevados -p ≤ 0.001- que los del pretest. Contrastando las dos versiones del taller, el promedio del largo fue significantemente mayor -p ≤ 0.001- que el del corto; esto, bajo la tutela de un diseño múltiple de pre y post-test y la prueba t-Student, pero para muestras independientes. Con el diseño de cuatro grupos de Solomon se estableció que el incremento significativo en el conocimiento sobre diseños de investigación no fue intervenido por los factores tratamiento y pretest -interacción- y no se observaron diferencias significativas entre ambas versiones.

The high school pass rate, for mathematics, in South Africa is very low. This is particularly so in trigonometry functions. One of the possible factors leading to this is the traditional method of teaching and learning. This study was undertaken to determine whether the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) would influence students’ learning of trigonometry functions. In order to answer this question the teaching and learning instructions developed were based on activity theory (AT) and action, process, object, and schema (APOS) theory. The study followed a non-equivalent control group, quasi-experimental design with a pre- post-test approach. Since it was not possible to randomly select participants for the study, intact groups were used. There were two groups: a control and an experimental one. Both groups wrote a standardized achievement pre-test to establish their comparability at the beginning of the study. While the control group was taught in the traditional way (grade 10-12 syllabus), the experimental group used the software Geogebra. The computer software (Geogebra) and the South African grade 10-12 syllabus for trigonometry functions were used during the lessons of the experimental group. At the end of the study, a similar post-test was administered on both groups to measure the comparative effects of either of the teaching methods on the performance of students. A t-test independent sample statistical analysis was performed on the findings using a statistics package, SPSS. The results of this investigation indicated that the use of the computer software, Geogebra, in the teaching and learning of trigonometry functions improved the performance of the Grade 12 students. / Mathematics Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics Education)