Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

Beliefs towards Mathematics in Elementary Education Teachers: a comparative study

Raquel Fernández-Cézar 1 * ,
Raúl Prada-Núñez 2,
Natalia Solano-Pinto 1
1 Castilla La Mancha University2 Francisco of Paula Santander University* Corresponding Author
Download PDF
Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, Volume 1, Issue 3, September 2018, pp. 329-345
OPEN ACCESS VIEWS: 658 DOWNLOADS: 309 Publication date: 15 Sep 2018
ABSTRACT
This work is part of a broader investigation developed in Ibero-America, whose main objective is to carry out an analysis of the affective domain towards mathematics in elementary education teachers, and how that could affect the teaching practices. In particular, this work focusses on the beliefs towards mathematics and shows the comparison between teachers of two countries: Spain and Colombia. The methodology consisted on a quantitative approach at a descriptive level, using a convenience sample composed of 235 teachers (105 from Spain and 130 from Colombia); the instrument was translated to Spanish from the scale of Beliefs of Baroody and Coslick (1998); the statistical analysis was performed with SPSS v 22. The results showed in both countries a majority of teachers who manifested Euclidean beliefs, without differences by country. On the other hand, there were significant differences in the Quasiempirist category, with more Colombian than Spanish teachers lying on; in the importance provided to the context in the teaching of Mathematics, and in the conception of the mathematical skill as inherent. The limitations of the study are exposed and several suggestions to deepen the study in the future are made.
KEYWORDS
Belief, Mathematics, Teachers, Elementary Education, Comparative Analysis.
CITATION (APA)
Fernández-Cézar, R., Prada-Núñez, R., & Solano-Pinto, N. (2018). Beliefs towards Mathematics in Elementary Education Teachers: a comparative study. Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 1(3), 329-345. https://doi.org/10.31756/jrsmte.135
REFERENCES
  1. Aiken Jr, L. R. (1970). Attitudes toward mathematics. Review of educational research, 40(4), 551-596.
  2. Arrebola, I. A., & Lara Castaño, A. I. (2010). Las actitudes hacia las matemáticas en el alumnado de ESO: un instrumento para su medición [The attitudes towards mathematics in compulsory secondary education students] Publicaciones: Facultad de Educación y Humanidades del Campus de Melilla, (40), 49-71.
  3. Asante, K. O. (2012). Secondary students' attitudes towards mathematics. IFE Psychologia: An International Journal, 20(1), 121-133.
  4. Baroody, A., & Coslick, R. T. (1998). Fostering children's mathematical power: An investigative approach to K-8 mathematics instruction. Routledge. New York-USA.
  5. Bermejo, V. (1996). Enseñar a comprender las matemáticas [Teaching to understand Mathematics]. In J. Beltrán y C. Genovard (Eds.), Psicología de la Instrucción I (256-279). Síntesis. Madrid. Spain.
  6. Blanco Nieto, L. J., & Guerrero Barona, E. (2002). Profesores de matemáticas y psicopedagogos. Un encuentro necesario [Mathematics’ professors and psicopedagogues. A needed approximation]. In Aportaciones de la didáctica de la matemática a diferentes perfiles profesionales (pp. 121-140). Universitat d´ Alacant/Universidad de Alicante.
  7. Butty, J. A. L. M. (2001). Teacher instruction, student attitudes, and mathematics performance among 10th and 12th grade Black and Hispanic students. Journal of Negro Education, 19-37.
  8. Cain-Caston, M. (1993). Parent and student attitudes toward mathematics as they relate to third grade mathematics achievement. Journal of instructional psychology, 20(2), 96.
  9. Callahan, W. J. (1971). Adolescent attitudes toward mathematics. The mathematics teacher, 64(8), 751-755.
  10. Callejo de la Vega, M.L. (1994). Un club matemático para la diversidad [A mathematical club for diversity] (Vol. 3). Narcea Ediciones. Madrid. Spain.
  11. Carvajal, P., Trejos, A. & Caro, C. (2006). Estudio de causas de deserción de los estudiantes de la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira entre enero/2000 – diciembre/2004 utilizando la técnica de análisis de correspondencias simples [Study of Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira student dropout causes between January/2000 and December/2004 using the simple correspondence analysis technique]. Scientia et Technica Año XII, No 30, mayo 2006. UTP. ISSN 0122-1701, pp.261- 266. [Online]. Available: http://www.utp.edu.co/php/revistas/ScientiaEtTechnica/d ocsFTP/101731261-266.pdf
  12. Cockcroft Report (1985). Las matemáticas si cuentan. [Mathematics count] Madrid, Ministry of Education and Culture. Spain.
  13. Contreras González, L. C. (2002). Dificultades y obstáculos para el cambio en el aula: una perspectiva desde la educación matemática [Difficulties and obstacles for the change inside the classroom]. Revista Investigación en la Escuela, (47), 75-82. Available online at http://www2.uhu.es/luis.contreras/Novedades/ articulo02.htm
  14. Costillo Borrego, E., Borrachero Cortés, A. B., Brígido Mero, M., & Mellado Jiménez, V. (2013). Las emociones sobre la enseñanza-aprendizaje de las ciencias y las matemáticas de futuros profesores de Secundaria [the emotions towards the teaching-learning of sciences and mathematics of preservice Secondary Education teachers]. Revista EUREKA sobre enseñanza y divulgación de las ciencias, 10, 514-532.
  15. Debellis, V. A., & Goldin, G. A. (1991, October). Interactions between cognition and affect in eight high school students' individual problem solving. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1, pp. 29-35).
  16. Debellis, V. A. (1993). Analysis of interactions between affect and cognition in elementary school children during problem solving. In Proceedings of the 15th annual meeting of PME-NA, 1993 (Vol. 2, pp. 56-62). San Jose State Univ. Ctr. for Math. and Computer Sci. Educ. CA. USA.
  17. Domino, J. (2009). Teachers' influences on students' attitudes toward mathematics. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education, 32-54.
  18. Fernández-Cézar, R., Rodrigues, M., & Rosa, J. (2017, July). La ansiedad hacia las matemáticas en los estudiantes de grado de maestro en el EEES: Un estudio comparativo entre España y Portugal [Anxiety towards mathematics in teacher degree university students at the EHES: A comparative study between Spain and Portugal]. In Proceedings of VIII CIBEM Madrid, CB201 – 300,pp. 371-379. Available online at: http://cibem.org/images/site/LibroActasCIBEM/ComunicacionesLibroActas_CB201-30.pdf
  19. George, D., & Mallery, P. (2003). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference. 11.0 Update (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. USA.
  20. Gil, N., Blanco, L. J., & Guerrero, E. (2005). El dominio afectivo en el aprendizaje de las matemáticas. Una revisión de sus descriptores básicos [Affective domain in the learning of mathematics. A revision of basic descriptors]. Revista iberoamericana de educación matemática, 2(1), 15-32.
  21. Gil Ignacio, N., Guerrero Barona, E., & Blanco Nieto, L. (2006). El dominio afectivo en el aprendizaje de las Matemáticas [Affective domain in the learning of mathematics]. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 4 (1), 47-72.
  22. Gil, I., Nieto, L. J. B., & Barona, E. G. (2006). El papel de la afectividad en la resolución de problemas matemáticos [The role of affects in the problem solving]. Revista de educación, 340, 551-569.
  23. Godino, J. D. (2002). La formación Matemática y didáctica de maestros como campo de acción e investigación para la didáctica de las Matemáticas: El proyecto Edumat-Maestros [The teacher mathematics and didactic education as an action and research field in the didactics of mathematics. The Edumat-teacher project]. http://www.ugr.es/~jgodino/ edumat-maestros/descripción.pdf .
  24. Goleman, D. (1996). Inteligencia emocional [Emotional inteligence]. Kairós Ed. Barcelona. Spain.
  25. Goldin, G.A. (1988a). Affective representation and mathematical problem solving. Goldin, G. A. (1988). Affective representation and mathematical problem solving. In Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Meeting on the Psychology of Mathematics Education, North American Chapter of International Group (Vol. 2, pp. 1-7). IL. USA.
  26. Goldin, G. A. (1998b). The development of a modal for competence in mathematical problem solving based on systems of cognitive representation. In Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (International Group for the Psy (Vol. 2, pp. 358-365). Ook Printing House.
  27. Gomez-Chacón, I.M. (1997). Procesos de aprendizaje en matemáticas con poblaciones de fracaso escolar en contextos de exclusión social: las influencias afectivas en el conocimiento de las matemáticas [Mathematics learning processes with school failure populations in social exclusion contexts] (Doctoral dissertation, Universidad Complutense de Madrid).
  28. Gomez-Chacon, I. M. (2000). Matemática Emocional. Los afectos en el aprendizaje matemático [Emotional mathematics. The affects in the learning of mathematics]. Narcea Ed. Madrid. Spain.
  29. González-Pienda, J. A., Fernández-Cueli, M., García, T., Suárez, N., Fernández, E., Tuero-Herrero, E., & da Silva, E. H. (2012). Diferencias de género en actitudes hacia las matemáticas en la enseñanza obligatoria. Revista iberoamericana de psicología y salud, 3(1), 55-73.
  30. Goodykoontz, E. N. (2008). Factors that affect college students' attitude toward mathematics (Doctoral dissertation, West Virginia University Libraries).
  31. Haladyna, T., Shaughnessy, J., & Shaughnessy, J. M. (1983). A causal analysis of attitude toward mathematics. Journal for Research in mathematics Education, 19-29.
  32. Hembree, R. (1990). The nature, effects, and relief of mathematics anxiety. Journal for research in mathematics education, 33-46.
  33. Hidalgo Alonso, S., Maroto Sáez, A., & Palacios Picos, A. (2005). El perfil emocional matemático como predictor de rechazo escolar: relación con las destrezas y los conocimientos desde una perspectiva evolutiva [The emotional mathematics profile as a predictor of school failure: relation to skills and knowledge from a developmental perspective]. Educación matemática, 17(2), 89-116.
  34. Hodges, C. B., & Kim, C. (2013). Improving college students’ attitudes toward mathematics. TechTrends, 57(4), 59-66.
  35. Mata, M. D. L., Monteiro, V., & Peixoto, F. (2012). Attitudes towards mathematics: Effects of individual, motivational, and social support factors. Child development research, 1-10.
  36. Mato, M. D., & de la Torre, E. (2009). Evaluación de las actitudes hacia las matemáticas y el rendimiento académico [Evaluation of the attitude towards mathematics and academic achievement]. PNA 5(1), 197-208.
  37. Mandler, G. (1989). Affect and learning: Causes and consequences of emotional interactions. In Affect and mathematical problem solving (pp. 3-19). Springer, New York, NY. USA.
  38. McLeod, D.B. (1988). Affective issues in mathematical problem solving: Some theoretical considerations. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 19, 134-141.
  39. McLeod, D. B. (1989a). The role of affect in mathematical problem solving. In Affect and mathematical problem solving (pp. 20-36). Springer, New York, NY. USA.
  40. McLeod, D. B. (1989b). Beliefs, attitudes, and emotions: New views of affect in mathematics education. In Affect and mathematical problem solving (pp. 245-258). Springer, New York, NY. USA.
  41. McLeod, D.B. (1992). Research on affect in mathematics education: A reconceptualization. En D.A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of Research on mathematics Teaching and Learning (pp. 575-598). New York: Macmillan. USA
  42. McLeod, D.B. (1994). Research on affect and mathematics learning in the JRME: 1970 to the present. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 25(6), 637-647.
  43. Miranda, A., & Gil, D. M. (2000). Dificultades del aprendizaje de las matemáticas: un enfoque evolutivo. Editorial Aljibe. Archidona, Málaga. Spain.
  44. National Council Teachers Mathematics (1991). Estándares curriculares y de evaluación para la educación matemática [Curricular and evaluation standards for mathematics education] S.A.E.M. Thales.
  45. Ngurah, A. A. M. I. G., & Lynch, D. P. (2013). A confirmatory factor analysis of attitudes toward mathematics inventory (ATMI). The Mathematics Educator, 15(1), 121-135.
  46. Opolot-Okurut, C. (2005). Student attitudes towards mathematics in Ugandan secondary schools. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 9(2), 167-174.
  47. Padrón, O. J. M. (2008). Actitudes hacia la matemática [Attitudes towards mathematics]. Sapiens. Revista Universitaria de Investigación, 9(1), 237-256.
  48. Perry, C. A. (2011). Motivation and attitude of preservice elementary teachers toward mathematics. School Science and Mathematics, 111(1), 2-1.
  49. Roca, A. E., & Díez-Palomar, J. (2011). Las actitudes hacia las Matemáticas. Análisis descriptivo de un estudio de caso exploratorio centrado en la Educación Matemática de familiares [The attitudes towards mathematics. Descriptive analysis of an exploratory case study centered on the parents mathematics education]. Revista de Investigación en Educación, 9(2), 116-132.
  50. Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality,9 (30), 185 – 211.
  51. Tocci, C. M., & Engelhard Jr, G. (1991). Achievement, parental support and gender differences in attitudes toward mathematics. The Journal of Educational Research, 84(5), 280-287.
  52. Thompson, A. G. (1984). The relationship of teachers' conceptions of mathematics and mathematics teaching to instructional practice. Educational studies in mathematics, 15(2), 105-127.
LICENSE
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.