Christopher M. Klinger Adult innumeracy and the influence of - ALM

13 Pages·2010·0.38 MB·English

by  Dr Chris Klinger

Adult innumeracy and the influence
of negative mathematics attitudes,
low self-efficacy beliefs, and
mathematics anxiety in student
primary teachers – an interventionist
approach for better practice
Dr Chris Klinger
University of South Australia
[email protected]
Introduction
Connection between
adult innumeracy
and
mathematics anxiety
• roots of both found to lie
in primary education
• role of teachers in
middle to late primary
years
a study in 3 parts…
1. IMAES to identify student teachers‟
perceptions of mathematics, including their
own capabilities
2. Skills test – administered as a diagnostic
intervention
3. Reflection on attitudes towards & perceptions
of mathematics in the context of the
intervention
…findings support a „functional deficit‟
hypothesis
Recap – primary teachers and the
IMAES instrument
Facts from TIMMS 2003:
Enjoy learning maths* Self-confidence in learning maths**
Agree a lot Disagree High Low
4th grade 46% (50%) 16% (22%) 55% 11%
8th grade 25% (29%) 31% (35%) 40% 22%
Difference -46% (-27%) 94% (59%) -27% 100%
• Over critical 4 yrs, 60-70% at risk (or worse) of being
„turned off‟ maths
• Causal factors:
– attributes of primary teachers
– attributes of pre-service primary teachers
– framework of educational systems, schools, curriculum practices
* same cohort sampled (1995/99) * * different cohorts (2003)
the IMAES instrument…
• IMAES* questionnaire – a multi-part instrument using
(mostly) 5-point Likert scales with 95 statements about:
– math attitude
• affective, behavioural, cognitive domains
– math anxiety
– math self-efficacy belief
– past/early math learning experiences
• Demographic info collected, also
• Factor analysis & reliability testing
– confirmed survey design i.e. that items correspond to
respective domains
*Inventory of Maths Anxiety, Attitude, Experience, & Self-awareness
IMAES results in a nutshell
Pre-service [student]
primary school teachers
tend to have pervasive
mathematics anxiety,
negative attitudes & low
mathematics self-efficacy
beliefs that are
more extreme than those
found in any other
undergraduate group
Diagnosis, evaluation, intervention and
reflection – a „DT‟ approach
• School of Education at UniSA:
o proactive response to challenge of math-averse student primary
teachers
o 3-part strategy
1. Diagnostic Test (DT) in four sections (may be attempted 3 times)
a) number: place value, arithmetic operations, money, fractions,
decimals, and percentage
b) space and measurement
c) data (including tables, graphs and diagrams) & chance
d) patterns (including simple algebraic relations), number theory (e.g.
prime numbers) & order of operations („BODMAS‟)
2. Supplementary lectures, tutorials & 1:1 support
3. Reflective questionnaire
Intervention
• Minimum 80% required per section for „mastery‟
• All sections must be mastered
• „3 strikes and you‟re out‟
Additional voluntary (extra-curricular) lectures, tutorials & 1:1
support provided…
• encouragement to reflect on diagnostic results & seek tuition and
support according to individual needs
• initial tutorial groups are quite large (30-50),
reducing to small-group tutorials (12-20) and 1:1 tuition
• staffed with casual tutors, drawn (increasingly) from schools and/or
professional organisations; recognized expertise
o tuition objectives to promote understanding rather than remediation
Summary of Diagnostic Test
(undergraduate, 2007)
Summary of Diagnostic Test
(graduate entry, 2007)
• 68.5% unable to demonstrate mastery, but
• proportion of successful students almost double that of
undergraduate cohort