Mathematical Attitudes, Beliefs and Achievement in Primary Pre-service Mathematics Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper reports on a study focused upon 83 pre-service primary teachers in their first mathematics pedagogy subject at the University of Western Sydney. They completed three surveys: an achievement test of the mathematics they would be expected to teach; a survey of their beliefs about mathematics, mathematics teaching and mathematics learning; and a survey of their attitudes towards mathematics. The experiences and beliefs of pre-service teachers influence the formation of attitudes and these, in turn, influence their classroom practices and beliefs. These beliefs, attitudes and practices may sometimes be at variance with the main direction of their tertiary teaching methods courses. Thus, it is crucial in assisting pre-service teachers to understand their own beliefs, attitudes and practices, and that these are made explicit and examined. This paper reports the data from the achievement test, belief survey and the attitude survey, and investigates the relationships between these data. The results from this study show some connections, although relatively weak, among the three constructs and lead us to speculate on possible reasons for these.