Good Mathematics Teaching From Mexican High School Students’ Perspective

Abstract

This paper reports a qualitative research that identifies the characteristics of good mathematics teaching from the perspective of Mexican high school students. For this purpose, the social representations of a good mathematics teacher and a good mathematics class were identified in a group of 67 students. In order to obtain information, a questionnaire was applied with open questions and focus groups with three or four students were organized. The answers to the questionnaire were analyzed by locating categories that consolidate a specific social representation. The information collected in the focus groups contributed to shedding light on the meaning of the words, phrases, and notions of common-sense knowledge used by the students. The students consider a good teacher to be someone with knowledge and who knows how to transmit the knowledge; someone who provides a step-by-step explanation and does not leave doubts in the minds of the students; someone who is patient/comprehensive and someone who does not make classes tedious/boring; someone who teaches in a simple and fun way, and arouses interest in students. In a good mathematics class, you are not bored, you learn; there are good, varied explanations and lots of exercises and students participations.

Student Perceptions and Experiences in Mathematics Classrooms: A Thematic Analysis

“…This is consistent with the results of past studies (Dogruer, Isiksal, & Koc, 2015). Participants' attitudes toward mathematics teachers depend on their teaching and behaviour (Martinez-Sierra, 2014). Teachers' affirmative nature creates interest in mathematics among participants (Tarmizi, Tarmizi, & Mokhtar, 2010).…”

“…What type of learning activities are involved in your classrooms? While developing the questions, the Indian school culture was considered, and a few questions were taken and modified from past studies (Dobie, 2009;Huang & Normandia, 2009;Martinez-Sierra, 2014). The tool was reviewed and validated by two experts in educational psychology, and their comments were incorporated into the questions.…”

Looking Through Different Points of Views: Characteristics of a Good Mathematics Teacher

“…A good teacher is defined as a "high-quality teacher" who is highly qualified with proper educational background, certificate, and passing scores on qualification tests (Martinez-Sierra, 2014). On the other hand, the school system defined good teachers by linking the concepts to excellent teaching, identifying based on the teacher's behavior, and connecting with successful students' outcomes and test scores (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2001).…”

“…This study explores teachers' and students' perspectives on the characteristics of a good mathematics teacher. Based on the literature review, various studies have been conducted on the characteristics of good teachers from teachers' (Bayar, 2014) or students' (Martinez-Sierra, 2014;Ifeanyi, 2016) perspectives. Only a few studies specifically study the characteristics of good mathematics teachers and compare both parties' perspectives to find the overlapping characteristics.…”