Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto)
Print version ISSN 0103-863X
FARIA, Paulo Cézar de; CAMARGO, Brigido Vizeu and MORO, Maria Lucia Faria. Indicators of students' and teachers' attitude towards mathematics. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto) [online]. 2009, vol.19, n.42, pp. 27-37. ISSN 0103-863X. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-863X2009000100005.
The study compares the attitude of four sample groups of mathematics students teaching and mathematics teachers towards mathematics. The participants (n=440) were volunteers from public and private schools chosen by convenience. The theoretical model refers to the construct attitude. The instruments used provided qualitative data about participants' reasons for choosing higher education, factors that hinder the teaching of mathematics and reasons they chose to teach mathematics. The person's condition at the end of the teaching program and at the beginning of career coupled to the self-perception of performance indicates that the change of attitude is related to the particularities of a given moment of the student or professional life. Results highlight the importance of using a variety of instruments to obtain indicators of attitudes towards mathematics.
Keywords : student attitudes; teacher attitudes; mathematics; professional education.