Teachers’ Behaviours Towards Vital Interactions that Attract Students’ Interest to Learn Mathematics and Career Development

Abstract

It is natural for students to expect appropriate behaviours from their teachers. Not only students but also every human being appreciates care from surrounding individuals. Within the classroom, students can feel less motivated to take part in the learning of the given course with the teacher who has offensive behaviours. The purpose of this study was to explore students’ reflections about what they consider to be appreciable behaviors of mathematics teachers, for students to be motivated to learn. The study also intended to find out whether there is a link between teachers' behaviours and students' career development. A total number of 53 students comprised of 16 primary pupils, 26 secondary students, and 11 graduate students participated in this study. Purposive, inconvenient, and systematic sampling methods were used to collect data. The findings showed that teachers’ behaviours can influence learners’ interest to learn mathematics. However, the study showed that there is no link between mathematics teachers' behaviours and learners' career development. Therefore, teachers are advised to be approachable, responsive, and behave in a way that motivates students to learn mathematics.

From what Makes Students Dislike Mathematics towards its Effective Teaching Practices

“…The fact that students disliked Mathematics because their teachers are harsh and careless reminds Mathematics teachers how they should behave in front of the students while interacting with them. As also stated by Ukobizaba et al (2019), students appreciate teachers who are careful, approachable and value the students' needs and interests. Furthermore, an effective teacher is one who shows a kind of care in the classroom by assisting students to develop their mathematical skills and giving them a chance to express themselves independently, and allowing classmates discussions (ANTHONY; WALSHAW, 2009).…”

“…"There is a common belief that most students dislike Mathematics, due to an array of factors related to instruction and students' cognitive, affective and psychomotor attributes, subject matter, and the learning environment" (GAFOOR; KURUKKAN, 2015, p. 2). For instance, Ukobizaba, Ndihokubwayo, Uworwabayeho (2020) argued that teachers' mastery of the content and its effective delivery is not sufficient, but also showing care to students are among the factors that enhance students' interest in learning Mathematics.…”

“…Moreover, Mathematics plays a significant role in society by enhancing students' thinking critically, logically, and abstractly. Research also shows that approaches such as group work and peer learning are not effectively applied in some Rwandan secondary schools (UKOBIZABA et al, 2019) to enhance the critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and creativity of students. It may slow down the significant role that Mathematics plays in society -enhancing the students' critical, logical, and abstract thought (TUCK-CHOY; TREAGUST, 2011).…”

“…In East African countries where Rwanda is included, students' pass rate and average scores in Mathematics are still low (HALAI; TENNANT, 2014). Likewise, students in Rwanda are considering Mathematics as a difficult subject (UKOBIZABA et al, 2019) and therefore lose interest in undertaking it, and therefore perform poorly. Low performance declines the number of students who may prefer to learn Mathematics (POPOOLA; OLAREWAJU, 2010).…”

The Effect of Resource-Based Instructions on Pre-service Biology Teachers’ Attitudes towards Learning Biology

“…Students' attitude determines their behavioral differences towards a given subject or concepts (Haddock, 2017); therefore, understanding students' attitudinal changes after teaching and learning is essential for improving the quality of education. Studies done in Rwanda have shown that secondary-school students feel bored with learning physics; since they think that it does not relate to any real-world experiences (Mbonyiryivuze et al, 2021); moreover, some studies found that students lose interest in learning mathematics due to the instructional tools used by their teachers (Ukobizaba et al, 2020).…”