Examining the Relationship among State College Mathematics Instructors' Demographics, Perceptions and Practices Concerning Procedural Fluency and Conceptual Understanding, and Epistemic Beliefs with Respect to Student Achievement. -- This study examined the relationship among three research
factors with respect to student achievement:
instructors’ demographics, perceptions and practices concerning
procedural fluency and conceptual
understanding, and epistemic beliefs of how students learn mathematics and the
nature of mathematics.
The study was a replication of Sicignano (2011) and focused
on MATV 0028, a developmental mathematic course commonly taught at state
colleges, which confer 2- and 4-year degrees. The study was grounded in
attribution, expectancy, and cognitive dissonance theories.
The study’s findings were based on responses from 19 instructors who taught MATV 0028 during
the fall 2012, spring 2013, and fall 2013 semesters. Instructors responded to a
31-item online researcher-developed questionnaire and provided students’ final examination scores (N = 528).
Cronbach’s alphas for the questionnaire sections were a = .71
and .75, respectively, and .825
for the 46-item, dichotomously scored final examination.
The study’s hypotheses were tested using path analysis.
Three paths had a significant direct effect on student achievement: years
teaching mathematics overall, Bu = -0.14,p = .0002; years teaching mathematics
at the state college, B12 = 0.23, p =
.0010; and whether an instructor took an educational course, B13 = 2.51, p
= .0106. Results were confirmed
by a multiple regression analysis, which yielded an overall significant model,
R2 =
.044, F(6, 520) = 4.01, p <
.001.
Overall findings were consistent with Sicignano (2011) and
suggest instructors’ epistemic beliefs
do not guide practices, instructors are unable to distinguish between
procedural fluency and conceptual understanding, and instructor demographics
are essential to student achievement.
Recommendations for practice include: developmental mathematics instructors are
encouraged to enroll in graduate-level education courses, and colleges should
develop an in-house teaching culture for instructors, provide them with
inservice workshops that address the distinction between procedural fluency and
conceptual understanding, and create procedural and conceptual assessment items
in mathematics that reflect the upper levels of Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy.
Source : Schiff, Rahna.
Florida Institute of Technology, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2015. 3662780.
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