Abstract
In North America, mathematics tends to have an image problem: People often dislike or fear the subject area (Boaler, 2008), and mathematicians are portrayed in stereotyped ways in the media (Applebaum, 1999). Negative attitudes toward mathematics are linked to decreased participation and achievement (Ma, 1999), but it is unclear how these attitudes form.
With these concerns in mind, I sought to understand how children may be impacted by growing up in a culture that is rife with negative views surrounding mathematics and mathematicians. My overarching goal in conducting this research project is to provide a better understanding of the complex interplay between outside sources (i.e., parents, teachers, and the popular media) and children’s views of mathematics and mathematicians.
My study is framed by a social constructivist and feminist epistemological stance, wherein I understand the discipline of mathematics and views of mathematics and mathematicians to be socially constructed and gendered in nature. Following, my conceptual framework positions the actors in the study
(i.e., students, parents, teachers, and media) as being both producers and (active) consumers of ideas about mathematics and mathematicians.
My study investigates elementary students’ views of mathematics and mathematicians and the ways that parents’ views, teachers’ views, and popular media representations may impact students’ views. Data collection consisted of online questionnaires, drawings of mathematicians, and focus group interviews
(with media prompts) with Grade 4 and 8 students; interviews with parents; interviews with teachers; and document analysis of children’s media.
For this presentation, I focus on the teacher interviews, in order to fully examine the ways in which teachers, a key socializing agent in children’s lives, act as producers of ideas about mathematics and mathematicians. Additionally, the teacher interviews provide an understanding of the ideas about mathematics and mathematicians that teachers consume.
Teacher interviews took place in the 2010–2011 school year with 10 Grade 4 and 8 teachers from Ontario. The interviews (average duration: 1.5 hours) investigated the teachers’ experiences with mathematics throughout their lives, their teaching philosophies, and their views of mathematics, mathematicians, and the media more broadly.
The interviews were transcribed verbatim, which resulted in more than 400 pages of data, and analyzed using Atlas software. Emergent coding was completed for each participant separately, and then comparisons were drawn across participants. Results will be discussed with regard to the conceptual
framework of producers and consumers.
With these concerns in mind, I sought to understand how children may be impacted by growing up in a culture that is rife with negative views surrounding mathematics and mathematicians. My overarching goal in conducting this research project is to provide a better understanding of the complex interplay between outside sources (i.e., parents, teachers, and the popular media) and children’s views of mathematics and mathematicians.
My study is framed by a social constructivist and feminist epistemological stance, wherein I understand the discipline of mathematics and views of mathematics and mathematicians to be socially constructed and gendered in nature. Following, my conceptual framework positions the actors in the study
(i.e., students, parents, teachers, and media) as being both producers and (active) consumers of ideas about mathematics and mathematicians.
My study investigates elementary students’ views of mathematics and mathematicians and the ways that parents’ views, teachers’ views, and popular media representations may impact students’ views. Data collection consisted of online questionnaires, drawings of mathematicians, and focus group interviews
(with media prompts) with Grade 4 and 8 students; interviews with parents; interviews with teachers; and document analysis of children’s media.
For this presentation, I focus on the teacher interviews, in order to fully examine the ways in which teachers, a key socializing agent in children’s lives, act as producers of ideas about mathematics and mathematicians. Additionally, the teacher interviews provide an understanding of the ideas about mathematics and mathematicians that teachers consume.
Teacher interviews took place in the 2010–2011 school year with 10 Grade 4 and 8 teachers from Ontario. The interviews (average duration: 1.5 hours) investigated the teachers’ experiences with mathematics throughout their lives, their teaching philosophies, and their views of mathematics, mathematicians, and the media more broadly.
The interviews were transcribed verbatim, which resulted in more than 400 pages of data, and analyzed using Atlas software. Emergent coding was completed for each participant separately, and then comparisons were drawn across participants. Results will be discussed with regard to the conceptual
framework of producers and consumers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 393 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education 2012 - Kalamazoo, United States of America Duration: 1 Nov 2012 → 4 Nov 2012 Conference number: 34th http://www.pmena.org/pmenaproceedings/PMENA%2034%202012%20Proceedings.pdf |
Conference
| Conference | Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education 2012 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | PME-NA 2012 |
| Country/Territory | United States of America |
| City | Kalamazoo |
| Period | 1/11/12 → 4/11/12 |
| Internet address |