Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of the Mathematics Courses Included in the Primary School Teacher Education Program (original) (raw)

Study of the Thoughts of Math Teachers about the Content of Secondary Education Math Class

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013

The purpose of this study is to investigate the opinions of secondary school mathematics teachers on the content of the current mathematics curriculum in Turkey. Based on this general aim, the views of teachers on the appropriateness of the curriculum content and their advice for improving the efficiency of the content have been revealed. Research was carried out as a case study, which is a qualitative research method. The study group for the research consisted of nine mathematics teachers working in Turkish Ministry of Education secondary schools in the city center of Sivas during the spring term of the 2011-2012 academic year. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the teachers in the study group and all of these were carried out by the researcher. Data were analyzed using a categorical content analysis technique via the NVivo computer program. According to the results of the study, teachers believe that the content of the Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum (SSMC) is aligned with the principles that have to be applied while choosing the content. However, they have alleged that the content of the program is not sufficient according to the principles of scheme (readiness), individual differences, validity and economicality. Based on the findings of this study, various solutions are offered for researchers, managers and program development experts.

Teaching of Mathematics at Secondary School Level – Teachers’ Perception, Challenges Faced and Solutions Proposed by the Teachers

Academia.edu, 2022

This exploratory research study focuses on Mathematics teachers’ perceptions towards teaching of mathematics, and investigates the challenges faced by them while teaching this subject at secondary level in District Hyderabad, moreover this study highlights the solutions proposed by them for effective teaching of Mathematics. The main objective of this research thesis was to investigate mathematics teachers’ problems that impact their performance in quality mathematics teaching. The secondary school level is the main stage during education, where students select specific subjects to choose specific fields of their choice for advanced studies. In the present research study, mixed approach was used to investigate teachers’ experiences in teaching mathematics. The demographic information, items analysis and hypotheses were analyzed using SPSS. However, qualitative data collected through open-ended questions from respondents was analyzed following six (06) steps proposed by Creswell’s (2009) for qualitative analysis. The results depict that Mathematics teachers try their level best to create effective learning environment for teaching of Mathematics, but they complained that students’ prior knowledge of Mathematics is insufficient for secondary level; moreover no capacity building programs are arranged for their professional growth. They proposed that class strength should not be more than thirty (30), technology facilities may be provided for teaching of Mathematics.

The Subjects That the Pre-service Classroom Teachers Perceive as Difficult in Elementary Mathematics Curriculum

Universal Journal of Educational Research, 2018

OECD-PISA which evaluates the education quality of Europe focused on mathematics, and Turkey was ranked 50 among 72 countries. When the mathematics literacy was analyzed in terms of years, it is seen that the performance of the students in Turkey in PISA 2015 was lower compared to PISA 2009 and PISA 2012. This shows that students have difficulty in comprehending the subjects in the mathematics curriculum. Therefore, learning experiences designed for the pupils to have rich mathematics experiences during elementary school is of higher importance. At this point, it is necessary to know the subjects that the pre-service teachers, who will be teachers of the future, are challenged in teaching mathematics. Therefore, the purpose of study is to determine the subjects in which elementary school pre-service teachers perceive teaching in elementary school mathematics as difficult and to examine the causes of these difficulties. The case study method is used in this study and the participants of the study are 120 pre-service classroom teachers who study in the fourth grade in a state university. Participants were administered a 19-item learning difficulty index covering mathematics learning areas of 1-4 grades (n = 120). The distribution of answers given by the pre-service teachers for each topic and the learning difficulty index for each topic were calculated. Interviews were done with the pre-service teachers in response to their responses to the questionnaire items to understand the causes of the difficulties. In interviews conducted one by one, the pre-service teachers were asked general mathematics lecture notes, mathematics fear level and the reasons for the topics they found difficult to teach.

An Analysis of Mathematics Curriculum at Secondary Level

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

The aim of this study is to analyze the Mathematics teachers' opinions about secondary education mathematics program (9-12 classes) which has been applied since 2005-2006 academic year by Ministry of Education. The study group of this research is 28 mathematics teachers who have already graduated and still make their profession at different educational institutions. To analyze the opinions gathered from prospective teachers' descriptive method is used. According to the findings of research the deficiencies and mistakes are emphasized. Suggestions for improving the secondary education mathematics programme are offered.

Assessment of the Attitudes towards Mathematics of the Students for Teacher of Primary Education

OALib, 2015

Attitudes of teachers in training towards mathematics may influence their future professional performance. Therefore, in this work, it has been done an exploratory study that aims to know which the attitudes towards mathematics of students who are in their first year of the Primary Education degree from the University of Cordoba at the beginning of their studies on this subject are. The results of this research show that even though the students value mathematics positively and they consider it useful and necessary to their training, his subject also makes them feel anxiety and little liking. It also shows differences in both anxiety and little liking between women and men.

The Investigation of Strengths and Weaknesses of Primary School Teachers in Mathematics Knowledge

2016

This study aims to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of primary school teachers in mathematical knowledge based on self-made exam. This exam consisted of ten mathematics questions. To determine the reliability of our exam, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was used and was estimated to be 0.74 by SPSS software. For this purpose, 80 teachers of grade fifth and sixth participated in Shiraz city, Iran. Teachers were selected by valuable sampling. The responses from teachers have been analyzed. In this paper, we used Descriptive Statistics for the data analysis. Data analysis indicated that the average mark of primary school teachers was low in some mathematics areas and they were strong in few topics. As a result, we propose several solutions for the education system in order to reduce the weaknesses in mathematics teaching.

Learner and Teacher perception on Difficulties in Learning and Teaching Mathematics: Some Implications

Mathematics holds a relevant and unique place in the school curriculum as it is important for a better living of the individual. But, it is known that most of the students are considering mathematics as difficult. This study examines the difficulties perceived by high school students and teachers in learning and teaching mathematics. Two hundred 9thstandard students and fourteen mathematics teachers participated in the survey. The questionnaires on perception of students and teachers, comprises closed as well as open ended items. The study incorporated cognitive, affective and environmental reasons that contribute to the difficulty in learning mathematics. The factors that make mathematics difficult for students to learn included difficulty in remembering the content learned in the previous classes, rapid forgetting of the learned material and the difficulty in understanding mathematics concepts. Further analysis revealed that students who feel mathematics highly difficult tends to believe that they lacks in learning strategies. Such students have lack of self efficacy and feel more difficulty in understanding mathematics. Students who feel Mathematics as highly difficult tends to forget it faster. Conversely students who feel mathematics as fairly easy reports their teachers teaching them well and understanding the concepts quickly. It was noted that the students who feel Mathematics as highly difficult tends to leave the task with little effort than those who feel the subject easy. According to teachers, students’ lack of effort and prerequisites are the major reasons for mathematics being a difficult subject for students. Reluctance to seek help from others, inattention in the classroom and students’ lack of motivation were also perceived to contribute toward difficulty in learning mathematics. Teachers reported also that, lack of relevant prerequisites, difficulty in speedy grasping of the concepts and more number of students in a classroom are causing difficulty in teaching mathematics. The findings indicate the need for teachers to realize the importance of making school mathematics interesting for students to take effort in learning it. The result is discussed in relation to students’ beliefs and study strategies.

Primary School Teachers' Views on 4th Grade Mathematics Curriculum Sınıf Öğretmenlerinin İlköğretim 4. Sınıf Matematik Dersi Öğretim Programına Yaklaşımları

Education, 2012

In this study, the opinions of elementary school teachers about the new mathematics curriculum and the learning environment that those teachers form are investigated. For this aim, qualitative data was collected via observations and interviews. The data gathered from classroom observations and 3 interviews with each of the 9 teachers working in the center and periphery of Trabzon in Turkey were analyzed and interpreted. It is shown that the teachers have positive ideas about the new curriculum. However, they have some problems in term of implementing new curriculum in their classrooms. Additionally, in spite of the fact that they are in favor of the new curriculum, it was observed that they could not create environment suitable for such student-centered approaches.

Challenges of Being a Secondary School Mathematics Teacher

European Journal of Education Studies

This study was conducted to reveal the challenges experienced by mathematics teachers working in secondary schools. The study is a descriptive case study which was carried out in accordance with a qualitative understanding. The participants of the study consisted of 145 secondary school mathematics teachers. The participants reported the challenges they experienced by writing on a form developed by the researchers. The data obtained were analysed through the content analysis method, by considering the professional experiences of the participants. The findings of the study indicated that the challenges experienced by the participating mathematics teachers were based on four basic sources including learner, teaching process, parents, and curriculum. Learner-related challenges included students’ negative attitude towards mathematics, lack of prior knowledge, unwillingness to learn, lack of study habits and misconceptions. In terms of the challenges related to the teaching process, the ...