Attitudes of Secondary Students Concerning the Nature of Mathematics, Mathematics Teaching, and Learning Related to Achievement
Keywords:
Secondary education, Learning environment, Student attitudes;, Mathematics educationAbstract
The relationships between certain student background variables, aptitude, classroom variables as measured by the learning environment inventory, achievement, and the seven attitude variables developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement are examined. The sample consisted of 16 general and 32 advanced level Grade 9 and 10 mathematics classes in the Province of Ontario. The results suggest that in regular classes higher achievement is associated with teacher-centred methods of instruction and the attitude that mathematics is a closed, fixed system, whereas in advanced level classes these relationships are reversed. Generally correlations between attitudes and the other variables in this study are low. The validity of some of the IEA scales is questioned.
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