Book chapter
Improving Initial Teacher Education Students’ Confidence in Mathematics: Building Trust into a Mathematics Curriculum
Re-imagining Teaching Improvement: From Early Childhood to University, pp.313-333
Springer Nature Singapore, First edition
01/2024
Appears in Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Abstract
Mathematics education is in crisis! There is a public moral outrage, at least in Australia, regarding declining student numbers and teaching quality. Universities respond to this public rhetoric by re-evaluating mathematics teacher education. In this chapter we examine a SoTL-driven re-design of first-year compulsory teacher trainer mathematics classes. We describe a case study of the design and evaluation of a first-year Initial Teacher Education Mathematics discipline unit. The data in this study is comprised of three sets. Firstly, students’ achievements in the unit across six consecutive years (from 2015 to 2020). Secondly, students’ responses to an anonymous survey in the beginning of each teaching session and finally, students’ anonymous responses to unit feedback surveys at the end of each teaching session. An initial evaluation has proven to be positive, as evidenced by improved student engagement and performance. A significant shift in students’ normative expectations is reflected in positive responses regarding their own capacities to engage in mathematics learning. Students become willing to take risks in learning as they move from passive trust, through active mistrust, to active trust. Building trust explains a student’s exclamation that, “I CAN do maths!”.
Details
- Title
- Improving Initial Teacher Education Students’ Confidence in Mathematics: Building Trust into a Mathematics Curriculum
- Creators
- Christos Markopoulos - Southern Cross UniversityWilliam E Boyd - Southern Cross UniversityPatrick Bruck - Southern Cross UniversityKoralia Petta - Southern Cross University
- Contributors
- David Lynch (Editor) - Southern Cross UniversityTony Yeigh (Editor) - Southern Cross UniversityWendy Boyd (Editor) - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Re-imagining Teaching Improvement: From Early Childhood to University, pp.313-333
- Publisher
- Springer Nature Singapore; Singapore
- Edition
- First edition
- Identifiers
- 991013158711602368
- Copyright
- © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Education; Office of the Vice Chancellor
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Book chapter