Teacher's and students' conceptions of mathematics : a case study of the classroom implementation of three-dimensional geometry in the new key stage 3 curriculum
"3-D Geometry" is a new mathematics topic ill Hong Kong secondary
schools. This paper describes the conception of mathematics in the new content
"3-D Geometry" of a veteran secondary school mathematics teacher and four
students he taught. It was found that the teacher possessed Platonic View in the
nature of mathematics and his views about teaching and learning mathematics
were categorized as a mix view of platonic and problem solving. The findings
supported that the belief structure can influence the teaching and leaning of
mathematics and vice versa (Chapman, 2002), to keep them in equilibrium. The
core beliefs, either central or primary, in the belief structure are the determinant
factors, which shape the teacher's model of teaching and learning. The
curriculum acted as an external catalyst that provokes a conflict between teacher's
own belief in learning mathematics with that embedded in the new mathematics
curriculum. Under the social constraint such as school based curriculum and the
availability of teaching resources, it resulted ill a 'teacher-led with
student-centred' approach. But the teacher's belief in the nature of mathematics
did not change under the same catalyst.
On the other perspective, this study also focused on the students' beliefs and
how they interact with the teacher's beliefs. The result also supports the
suggestion that students' conceptions in mathematics are mainly underived (Op't
Eynde, De Corte & Verschaffel, 2002). Besides, it is also found that students'
conceptions of mathematics are influenced by the teacher and the implemented
curriculum. It is because we, as a teacher, communicate our beliefs either
consciously or subconsciously to our students through teaching practice.
In this study, data were collected through beliefs questionnaires, video
recorded lesson observations and audio recorded semi-structured interviews.
Through these tools, we can have a clear picture on what happened and why it
happened in the implementation of the new mathematics curriculum. Discussion
on the impact of the new curriculum implementation gives rise to important
implications for mathematics teacher development in the recent reform.
School:The University of Hong Kong
School Location:China - Hong Kong SAR
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Keywords:geometry study and teaching secondary china hong kong curriculum change mathematics teachers attitudes junior high school students
Date of Publication:01/01/2003