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Students’ Attitudes, Engagement and Confidence in Mathematics and Statistics Learning: ICT, Gender, and Equity Dimensions

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Towards Equity in Mathematics Education

Part of the book series: Advances in Mathematics Education ((AME))

Abstract

In this chapter the findings of five studies are reported. Two research instruments were used: the Mathematics and Technology Attitudes Scale (MTAS), and the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics Scale (SATS). The aims, methods, data analyses, selected findings and conclusions are presented, as well as implications for the teaching and learning of mathematics and statistics. The studies involved samples from Australia and Greece. Findings from the three MTAS studies revealed that there is a complex nexus of relationships between secondary mathematics students’ mathematics confidence, confidence with technology, attitude to learning mathematics with technology, affective engagement and behavioural engagement, achievement, and gender. Findings from the SATS studies indicated that male Greek tertiary students had more positive attitudes toward statistics than female students; there was no gender gap for the Australian tertiary students. Secondary students’ attitudes towards ICT use for mathematics learning require further scrutiny in order to bring about gender equity and to facilitate improved outcomes for all students. Gender and cultural sensitivity are paramount in the instructional planning, decision making, and implementation of secondary mathematics and tertiary statistics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Anastasios N. Barkatsas

Authors
  1. Anastasios N. Barkatsas
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Correspondence to Anastasios N. Barkatsas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fac. Education, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, 3800, Victoria, Australia

    Helen Forgasz

  2. Dept. Mathematics, San Jose State University, Washington Square 1, San Jose, 95192, California, USA

    Ferdinand Rivera

Appendices

Appendix 1: Mathematics and Technology Attitudes Scale

Five Subscales

Mathematics Confidence [MC], Confidence with Technology [TC], Attitude to learning mathematics with technology [MT], Affective Engagement [AE] and Behavioural Engagement [BE].

To tailor to a particular class, change the words “graphics calculators” to the technology used by that class (e.g. computers, graphing calculators, computer algebra systems).

Table 5 MTAS scale showing items and subscale membership (usually invisible)
Full size table

Appendix 2: Factor Structure of the MTAS Scale

Subscales

Mathematics Confidence [MC], Confidence with Technology [TC], Attitude to learning mathematics with technology [MT], Affective Engagement [AE] and Behavioural Engagement [BE].

Table 6 Rotated component matrix
Full size table

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Barkatsas, A.N. (2012). Students’ Attitudes, Engagement and Confidence in Mathematics and Statistics Learning: ICT, Gender, and Equity Dimensions. In: Forgasz, H., Rivera, F. (eds) Towards Equity in Mathematics Education. Advances in Mathematics Education. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27702-3_14

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