The nature of teachers' pedagogical content beliefs matters for students' achievement gains: Quasi-experimental evidence from elementary mathematics.

Abstract

In a longitudinal study of 496 students in 27 self-contained German elementary school classrooms, performance in mathematical word problems and arithmetic tasks was measured at the end of Grades 2 and 3. A questionnaire was used to assess the degree to which teachers' pedagogical content beliefs in elementary mathematics reflect a cognitive constructivist orientation, rather than an associationist or direct-transmission view of learning and teaching. Our findings show that a cognitive constructivist orientation was associated with larger achievement gains in mathematical word problems. Moreover, teachers with a direct transmission view were not more successful than teachers with a cognitive constructivist orientation in fostering students' computational proficiency.

The Effect of Teacher Beliefs on Student Competence in Mathematical Modeling – An Intervention Study

“…between students) for individual, active cognitive processes (Prawat, 1992). As Staub and Stern (2002) illustrate, a (socio-) constructivist orientation of the teachers is associated with students achieving higher scores in solving mathematical word problems. Other findings support the relevance of teacher constructivist beliefs regarding student learning outcomes in mathematics (Dubberke, Kunter, McElvany, Brunner, & Baumert, 2008;Stipek, Givvin, Salmon, & MachGyvers, 2001).…”

“…Regarding beliefs about the learning and teaching of mathematics, Staub and Stern (2002) distinguish between a transmission view (learning as the result of information transmission and repetition by the learner) and a constructivist or socio-constructivist view. According to the latter, learning depends on the individual's active cognitive processes; moreover, a socio-constructivist view emphasizes the role of social exchange (e.g.…”

“…Beliefs about learning were assessed applying two scales of Staub and Stern (2002): the scale "role of learner as active" (6 items, example item: "Students learn best when they explore solutions by themselves") and scale "socio-constructivism" (6 items; example item: "Teachers should help students to find their own solutions"). Self-efficacy in teaching modeling was measured by means of five items adapted from Schmitz and Schwarzer (2000; example item: "I feel confident about fostering student modeling competence").All items had a four point rating scale answering format (1 = "agree" to 4 = "do not agree").…”

Improving procedural and conceptual mathematics outcomes: evidence from a randomised controlled trial in Kenya

“…Reviews of programmes in the USA (Slavin and Lake 2007) and South Africa (Fleisch and Schöer 2014) indicate that focus on instructional change is most likely to have positive outcomes (Slavin and Lake 2007;Staub and Stern 2002). Research in sub-Saharan Africa suggests that to support teacher learning, modelling and teacher coaching are necessary (Schwille and Dembélé 2007;UNESCO 2012;UNESCO and CASTME 2001).…”

In-Service Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs About Teaching, Learning and Nature of Mathematics and Their Mathematics Teaching Practices

“…Haney & McArthur (2002) conducted a study investigating two questions pinpointing science teachers' beliefs as constructivists, and to what extent these beliefs correspond with real teaching practices, and concluded that there were in fact two main types of beliefs: central beliefs and peripheral ones. Another study by Staub & Stern (2002) featured a sample of 496 elementary students whose performance and skills in mathematical problem-solving were measured. Their teachers' beliefs toward the cognitive and pedagogical mathematical content were measured as well, concluding that they possessed a set of constructivist beliefs which were strongly correlated with their students' abilities in solving mathematical problem.…”