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Graduate teaching assistants' beliefs about teaching mathematics
Abstract
In many schools graduate teaching assistants represent undergraduates' primary mathematics instructional contact. Nevertheless, GTAs often have varying knowledge of and interest in mathematics education. The study explored the relationship between GTAs' beliefs in their potential impact on student achievement, their self-concept, and their attitudes toward certain targeted pedagogical issues. Additionally, this study investigated the relationship between these GTAs' beliefs and student achievement. The sample for this study consisted of 71 mathematics GTAs conducting a calculus recitation or teaching an introductory mathematics course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Purdue University, and the University of Kansas during the 1997-1998 academic year. Descriptive analysis, correlations, analysis of variance, multivariate analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis were conducted to answer the research questions. Results indicated that student achievement was inversely related to UNL GTAs' external efficacy dimension. GTAs' sense of current educational status was related to student achievement. Belief variables internal, task frequency, confidence, reform, and status of current education as measured by this study were related. Reported task frequency was the significant predictor of GTAs' confidence, internal efficacy dimension, and sense of instructional efficacy for all GTAs. GTAs' confidence significantly predicted their sense of the status of current education, while GTAs' confidence and their sense of the internal efficacy dimension significantly predicted their reported task frequency. Several demographic variables related to graduate teaching assistants' beliefs. Multivariate analyses results indicated a difference in all GTAs' belief variables according to school, but follow-up univariate analyses were unable to pinpoint these differences. Multivariate analyses indicated a difference in all GTAs' belief variables according to career goals, but univariate follow-up analyses did not yield any significant differences. Multivariate analyses revealed differences among UNL GTAs' belief variables according to the demographic variable gender. Follow-up univariate analyses revealed female GTAs scored higher than male GTAs on both the internal efficacy dimension and reported task frequency. Recommendations of this study included development of a GTA professional development training addressing the relationship between instructors' beliefs with classroom behavior, students' beliefs, and student achievement, grounded in self-analysis of efficacy beliefs.
Subject Area
Mathematics education|Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Erica Lee, "Graduate teaching assistants' beliefs about teaching mathematics" (1998). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9903770.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9903770