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Attitudes of high-school students taught using traditional and reform mathematics curricula in middle school: a retrospective analysis

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Abstract

This paper presents findings from a larger research project that provides insight into the attitudes of high-school students who were taught using different types of mathematics curricula when they were in middle school. A total of 44 12th-grade students from 10 high schools in the same urban school district were interviewed. Eighteen (41%) of them had been taught using a reform curriculum in middle school and 26 (59%) had been taught using a more traditional curriculum. Using Di Martino and Zan’s three-dimensional model for attitude, we found that the high-school seniors who had been taught using the reform curriculum in middle school harbored attitudes toward mathematics that differed significantly from the attitudes of those who had been taught using a traditional curriculum in middle school. Our analysis of the student interviews culled seven themes that provide fine-grained information about the students’ attitudes toward mathematics. Significantly greater percentages of reform students than traditional students had a relational Vision of mathematics as opposed to an instrumental Vision; however, there was no significant difference between the proportions of reform and traditional students who had a positive Emotional Disposition toward mathematics or a positive Perceived Competence in mathematics.

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Notes

  1. Because students frequently responded with a multiple-part answer to a single question, a response often addressed more than one theme or TMA dimension. It should be noted, however, that any individual passage extracted from a response was coded to a single theme only.

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Funding

The research reported here is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (ESI-0454739 and DRL-1008536). Any opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    John C. Moyer & Victoria Robison

  2. University of Delaware, 523 Ewing Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Jinfa Cai

Authors
  1. John C. Moyer
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  2. Victoria Robison
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  3. Jinfa Cai
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Correspondence to Jinfa Cai.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

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Moyer, J.C., Robison, V. & Cai, J. Attitudes of high-school students taught using traditional and reform mathematics curricula in middle school: a retrospective analysis. Educ Stud Math 98, 115–134 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-018-9809-4

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