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 KlingerUniversity of South Australia

chris.klinger@unisa.edu.au

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

Introduction

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

• 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)

Facts from TIMMS 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 aremore 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

Reflection… affective assessment

• diagnostic tools & procedures appear to be highly effective

• reflective questionnaire:o “It was great to see from the beginning what we knew and needed help

with.”

o “I think the remedial classes helped me immensely.”

o “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:o “I had unrealistic ideas about my abilities in all areas.”

o “I thought I was doing the question correctly in the original DT however got them wrong.”

o “It took the DT for me to realize what areas needed revision and I probably would not otherwise have been aware of them.”

Conclusion

• 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, there’s 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