Title: Adult%20innumeracy%20and%20the%20influence%20of%20negative%20mathematics%20attitudes,%20low%20self-efficacy%20beliefs,%20and%20mathematics%20anxiety%20in%20student%20primary%20teachers%20
1Adult 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 KlingerUniversity of South Australia
- chris.klinger_at_unisa.edu.au
2Introduction
- 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
3a study in 3 parts
- IMAES to identify student teachers perceptions
of mathematics, including their own capabilities - Skills test administered as a diagnostic
intervention - Reflection on attitudes towards perceptions of
mathematics in the context of the intervention - findings support a functional deficit
hypothesis
4Recap primary teachers and the IMAES instrument
Facts from TIMMS 2003
Enjoy learning maths Enjoy learning maths Self-confidence in 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)
5the 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
6IMAES results in a nutshell
Pre-service student primary school teachers
tend to have pervasive mathematics anxiety,
negative attitudes low mathematics
self-efficacy beliefs that aremore extreme than
those found in any other undergraduate group
7Diagnosis, evaluation, intervention and
reflection a DT approach
- School of Education at UniSA
- proactive response to challenge of math-averse
student primary teachers - 3-part strategy
- Diagnostic Test (DT) in four sections (may be
attempted 3 times) - number place value, arithmetic operations,
money, fractions, decimals, and percentage - space and measurement
- data (including tables, graphs and diagrams)
chance - patterns (including simple algebraic relations),
number theory (e.g. prime numbers) order of
operations (BODMAS) - Supplementary lectures, tutorials 11 support
- Reflective questionnaire
8Intervention
- Minimum 80 required per section for mastery
- All sections must be mastered
- 3 strikes and youre out
- Additional voluntary (extra-curricular) lectures,
tutorials 11 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
11 tuition - staffed with casual tutors, drawn (increasingly)
from schools and/or professional organisations
recognized expertise - tuition objectives to promote understanding
rather than remediation
9Summary of Diagnostic Test (undergraduate, 2007)
10Summary of Diagnostic Test (graduate entry, 2007)
- 68.5 unable to demonstrate mastery, but
- proportion of successful students almost double
that of undergraduate cohort
11Reflection affective assessment
- diagnostic tools procedures appear to be highly
effective - reflective questionnaire
- It was great to see from the beginning what we
knew and needed help with. - I think the remedial classes helped me
immensely. - I had completely forgotten these maths concepts
and I now look at my own everyday activities in a
very different light. - almost 2/3 of students believed the DT identified
areas for improvement of which they were
previously unaware - I had unrealistic ideas about my abilities in
all areas. - I thought I was doing the question correctly in
the original DT however got them wrong. - It took the DT for me to realize what areas
needed revision and I probably would not
otherwise have been aware of them.
12Conclusion
- IMAES profiles are robust in their ability to
characterise affective, cognitive, and
behavioural attributes - DT cohorts are not atypical DT results confirm
that the postulated behaviours are manifested in
these groups - if unchecked, theres a tangible substantial
risk to generations of primary pupils - a cohort of 130 student teachers might be
expected to reach 50,000 individuals - BUT positive interventions in teacher education
programs are both possible and necessary
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