A relationship between epistemological beliefs on the nature of mathematics and pedagogy of mathematics (original) (raw)
Related papers
Epistemological Conceptions of Mathematics
Since the advent of the NCTM Standards (1989), mathematics educators have been faced with the challenge of assessing the impact of Standards-based (or "reform") curricula. Research on the impact of Standards-based curricula has predominantly focused on student achievement; here we consider an alternative: Students' epistemological conceptions of mathematics. 297 participants were administered a Likert-scale survey instrument, the Conceptions of Mathematics Inventory. Of these, 163 had not experienced Standards-based curricula, while the rest had used a Standards-based curriculum for over three years. Our results indicate that students at the Standards-based site expressed more sophisticated epistemological conceptions of mathematics than those of the students from the non-Standards-based site. We interpret this result to suggest that implementation of Standards-based curricula may be having an effect on students' epistemological conceptions of mathematics.
Dominant Epistemologies in Mathematics Education
for the learning of mathematics, 1998
Since the devotional writings of the Pythagoreans , mathematics has been associated with the mystical. In a romantic search for 'origins', humans attributed divine foundations and transcendental powers to mathematics . Its exegetical force spawned a myth, a 'theory of everything ' , or 'anything' , which appeared at the same time as the 'unifying glue' of an enlightened, rational human mind. This myth led to a pseudo-unification of the human mind and its different expressions, leading the way for the epistemic hegemony of mathematics. In this article , I address the relationship between scientism, as expressed in Descartes' writings, and the dominant epistemologies in the field of mathematics education today. More specifically, I ask: 'What is the legacy of Cartesianism in the field of mathematics education and in the mathematics classroom?' Is the subsumption of differing voices within the purview of an 'epistemological elite' per...
Premiere Educandum : Jurnal Pendidikan Dasar dan Pembelajaran, 2021
This study aims to examine the relationship between epistemological beliefs, teaching-learning beliefs and assessment beliefs in mathematics education. This research is a quantitative study with a correlational study. Data collection using the survey method with a cross-sectional design. The participants were 71 pre-service elementary school , mathematics teachers. The data on beliefs were collected through means of a questionnaire. The data collected from the questionnaire were then analyzed quantitatively through descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics utilizes the mean value, maximum value, and standard deviation values. Inferential statistics use the product-moment correlation as well as path analysis. The research results show that there is a positive and significant correlation between static and dynamic beliefs on epistemology of mathematics, and the constructivist beliefs on mathematics teaching and learning, with the productive beliefs on mathematics...
Epistemic dimensions of students’ mathematics-related belief systems
International Journal of Educational Research, 2006
Over the years, research on students' epistemological beliefs has resulted in a growing common understanding but there are still some major points of discussion. Especially, the lack of consensus on the context-general and/or context-specific nature of epistemological beliefs deserves our attention. We argue that research in the field today is mainly characterized by a top-down approach that investigates students' domain-specific beliefs from a general epistemological perspective. Alternatively, we report on one of our studies as well as some other research that takes a bottom-up approach starting from students' domain-specific belief systems and analyzing their epistemic dimensions. Results of these studies point to the highly domain-specific nature of students' beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Therefore, a conceptual distinction between students' general epistemological beliefs and the epistemic dimensions of domain-related belief systems is recommended as a more appropriate way to address the context-general-context-specific discussion on epistemological beliefs.
The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 2010
College students' epistemological belief in their academic performance of mathematics has been documented and is receiving increased attention. However, to what extent and in what ways problem solvers' beliefs about the nature of mathematical knowledge and thinking impact their performances and behavior is not clear and deserves further investigation. The present study investigated how Taiwanese college students espousing unlike epistemological beliefs in mathematics performed differently within different contexts, and in what contexts these college students' epistemological beliefs were consistent with their performances and behavior. Results yielded from the survey of students' performances on standardized tests, semi-open problems, and their behaviors on pattern-finding tasks, suggest mixed consequences. It appears that beliefs played a more reliable role within the well-structured context but lost its credibility in non-standardized tasks.