Perceptions that may affect teachers’ intention to use technology in secondary mathematics classes

Abstract

Technology is available and accessible in many mathematics classrooms. Adopting technology to support teaching and learning requires teachers to change their teaching practices. This paper reports the responses of a diverse cohort of 92 secondary mathematics teachers who chose to respond to an Australian state-wide survey (Mathematics with Technology Perceptions Survey) developed using a Theory of Planned Behaviour framework. The items discussed in this paper targeted mathematics teachers' perceptions of possible barriers and enablers to their intention to use technology in their teaching. The responses are varied but, overall, strength of agreement with enablers outweighed agreement with perceived barriers. However, it is clear that despite an overall positive attitude towards the use of technology for teaching mathematics, some perceived barriers to change are notable. It is, therefore, helpful if those responsible for professional development, promoting the use of technology, recognise and address these barriers as well as working to strengthening enablers.

The teacher and the tool: instrumental orchestrations in the technology-rich mathematics classroom

“…In fact, their views on mathematics education and the opportunities technology offers can be seen as their theoretical discourse that justifies their orchestrational choices and guides their operational invariants. These choices were shown to be partially based on time constraints and concerns about control, which is in line with findings in other studies (Pierce & Ball, 2009). Finally, it is interesting to note that the profiles of teachers A and C reported here are close to similar profiles from two case studies (of teacher P1 and N, respectively) described by Ruthven, Hennessy, and Deaney (2008).…”

“…The analysis was carried out in a bottom-up manner, though partly driven by theory (e.g. Kendal & Stacey, 2002;Pierce & Ball, 2009;Trouche, 2004). Six orchestration types were identified and the corpus was coded according to this categorization.…”

“…The process of a teacher developing instrumental orchestrations is guided by his or her knowledge of, experience with and views on mathematics education and the role of technology herein (Pierce & Ball, 2009). This includes the teachers' own knowledge and skills concerning the integration of technology, and their concerns about time constraints and behavioural control.…”

“…A new repertoire of teaching techniques, instrumented by the available tools, has to be developed. These new techniques are likely to be related to already existing ones as well as to the teachers' underlying views on mathematics education (Pierce & Ball, 2009).…”

Digital Technology in Mathematics Education: Why It Works (Or Doesn’t)

“…In relation to the instrumental genesis model, Trouche developed the notion of instrumental orchestration to stress the relevance of teaching practices (Trouche, 2004). Case studies based on these models describe teachers' practices in relation to their opinions and beliefs (Drijvers, 2012;Drijvers, Doorman, Boon, Reed, & Gravemeijer, 2010;Pierce & Ball, 2009). Another model on teachers' professional knowledge is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), which became widespread but is also criticized (Graham, 2011;Koehler, Mishra, & Yahya, 2007;Voogt, Fisser, ParejaRoblin, Tondeur, & Van Braak, 2013).…”