Teacher characteristics as predictors of mathematics attitude and perceptions of engaged teaching among 12^th grade advanced mathematics students in the U.S

Abstract

The present study examined the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study "Advanced" data to examine how the educational credentials of maths teachers and other teacher characteristics were related to attitude towards advanced mathematics and perceptions of engaged teaching among 12th-grade students enrolled in advanced mathematics courses in the U.S. As attitudinal outcomes in this study, two measures of attitude towards mathematics were employed-the Students Like Learning Advanced Mathematics scale and the Students Value Advanced Mathematics scale, and one measure of student perception of engaged teaching-the Students' Views on Engaging Teaching in Advanced Mathematics Lessons. A set of multilevel regression analyses were conducted predicting each of these aforementioned outcomes. No statistically significant effects on the attitudinal outcomes were observed for teacher variables. Positive effects were noted for parental education on students' valuing of advanced mathematics. A prominent finding was that higher levels of parental education were associated with higher student levels of valuing mathematics, which likely reflects a family/home culture that implicitly or explicitly places high value on science and mathematics. Identifying factors that might facilitate positive attitude is important to increase the likelihood that students will choose, and be retained in, mathematics and STEM education and careers.

The relationship of sense of school belonging to physics attitude among high school students in advanced physics courses

“…In the 2021 study carried out by the authors of this study (Smith et al, 2021), some notable gender differences in the effect of school belonging on attitudes toward advanced mathematics were noted. In Portugal, it was observed that the relationship between students' sense of school belonging and both Students Value Advanced Mathematics and Students Like Learning Advanced Mathematics was significantly stronger for males than females.…”

“…When comparing the results of this study predicting attitudes toward advanced physics to the findings of Smith et al (2021), who used the TIMSS 2015 Advance data to how students' sense of school belonging predicted attitudes toward advanced mathematics, some notable observations emerged. First, for both math and physics attitudinal outcomes, students' sense of school belonging was as an important predictor-statistically significant in each country, and emerging as either the most important or second-most important among the four predictors considered (sense of school belonging, parental education, gender, and physics/math achievement).…”

“…It appears then, that the aspects of school milieu that may be gender‐specific in their effects of attitudes may operate in complex, culture‐specific ways, and may not generalize to multiple STEM attitudinal outcomes. Additionally, Smith et al (2021) also found that Portugal stood out as the only country in which female students showed a more positive attitude toward mathematics than males. Based on this study, however, this result did not extend to attitude toward advanced physics, where there were no countries in which female students showed more positive attitudes than males.…”

“…In 2021, the current authors (Smith et al, 2021) investigated the role of school belonging and its relationship to attitudes toward advanced mathematics using the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) "Advanced" data. These data included students in their final year of high school and enrolled in one or more advanced mathematics courses among nine distinct countries (France, Italy, Lebanon, Norway, Russia, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, and the United States).…”

Self-Efficacy dan Hubungannya Terhadap Karakteristik Siswa SMP pada Pembelajaran Matematika

“…Dalam penelitian ini pengumpulan data menggunakan skala likert dan data yang dikumpul melakukan diuji validitas dan uji reliabilitas menggunakan aplikasi SPSS statistik 24. Pernyataan kuesioner berasal dari instrumen Alves et al, (2016); Smith et al, (2022) dan dimodifikasi sesuai dengan keperluan penelitian.…”