Seeking a Balance: Helping Pre-Service Teachers Develop Positive Attitudes towards Mathematics as They Develop Competency

Abstract

Mathematical competence of teachers continues to be an issue of great interest to mathematics educators within tertiary institutions and it is often thought of simultaneously with the notion of mathematics anxiety. While there has been considerable recent research into the latter, no clear conclusions have been able to be drawn about many aspects of the phenomenon and how it is linked to mathematical competence. Most recently, international studies have highlighted notable differences in the standards of teacher preparation in different countries and in Australia new standards for accreditation of teacher education programs have been drafted. This paper reports on a part of on-going research into mathematics anxiety and competence of pre-service teachers. It uses two small samples of pre-service teachers from different cohorts of a Bachelor of Education course and attempts to identify factors that may help develop positive attitudes towards mathematics as they seek to develop their competency in mathematics. In addition, as a response to greater reported levels of anxiety regarding cognitive and knowledge traits, the paper identifies targeted professional learning and social constructivist teaching as key factors as well as the need to identify personal knowledge of mathematics as a prelude to seeking to become more competent.

An Investigation On Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers’ Mathematics Anxiety

“…The results of this study are supported by research conducted by several researchers who show that MA level of the pre-service elementary school teachers is at a high level (Isiksal, Curran, Koc, & Askun, 2009;Levine, 1998). In contrast to the results of this study, other studies show that it should be at the medium level (Bekdemir, 2010;Bursal & Paznokas, 2006;Rayner, Pitsolantis, & Osana, 2009) and low (Çatlioglu et al, 2009;Hurst & Cooke, 2014). The high and low of MA can be caused by various things including pressure to answer the right questions, difficulty in understanding the mathematical terms, pressure due to the duration of the test (Harper & Daane, 1998), and the level of confidence (Finlayson, 2014;Harper & Daane, 1998).…”

“…Studies reveal that the teaching they receive in mathematics during their study seems to play an important role in shaping their attitudes towards mathematics (Gresham, 2009). Therefore, teacher education courses have a responsibility to help the pre-service teachers in reducing the MA (Gautreau, Brye, & Lunceford, 2016;Gresham & Burleigh, 2018;Hurst & Cooke, 2014;Peker & Ertekin, 2011;Wilkins, 2009), thus creating a positive attitude for the pre-service teachers towards mathematics.…”

Examining undergraduate student retention in mathematics using network analysis and relative risk

“…A significant exception was MATH4, which is offered only to initial teacher education students at this institution. This finding confirms previous research that indicates that pre-service teachers enter programs which require broad competencies, but with limited mathematics knowledge and skills [50,51] Figure 1. The mathematics student enrolment network at the study university.…”

How are we progressing with academic numeracy at regional universities? Perspectives from first-year undergraduate studies

“…The academic numeracy offerings to initial teacher education students proved an exception, where attrition was higher than the university norm. It is well known that students entering initial teacher education have broad competencies that may, or may not, include the knowledge and skills required for development of academic numeracy (Cooke, Cavanagh, Hurst, and Sparrow, 2011;Hurst and Cooke, 2014) and this was apparent in this cohort.…”