Abstract
Student responses to a structured questionnaire concerned with views on mathematical knowledge, activity and learning, were analysed and interpreted using factorial techniques. The constructs which emerge from the analysis may provide heuristically useful for understanding student beliefs. The findings suggest that there is no simple systematic relationship between beliefs about the nature of mathematical knowledge and activity and about the teaching and learning of mathematics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cockcroft, W. H. (chair): 1982,Mathematics Counts: Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Teaching of Mathematics in Schools, HMSO, London.
Coe, R.: 1992,Students' Understandings and Use of Mathematical Proof. Unpublished MPhil dissertation, University of Cambridge.
Coe, R. and Ruthven, K.: 1994, ‘Proof practices and constructs of advanced mathematics students’,British Educational Research Journal 20, 1, 41–53.
Dijkstra, W. and van der Zouwen, J. (eds.): 1982,Response Behaviour in the Survey-Interview, Academic Press, London.
Ernest, P.: 1989, ‘The impact of beliefs on the teaching of mathematics’, in C. Keitel, A. Bishop, and P. Gerdes (eds.),Mathematics, Education and Society, UNESCO, Paris, 99–101.
HMI (Her Majesty's Inspectorate): 1985,Mathematics from 5 to 16, HMSO, London.
Lampert, M.: 1990, ‘When the problem is not the question and the solution is not the answer: Mathematical knowing and teaching’,American Educational Research Journal 27, 1, 29–63.
Lerman, S.: 1990, ‘Alternative perspectives of the nature of mathematics and their influence on the teaching of mathematics’,British Educational Research Journal 16, 1, 53–61.
NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics): 1980,An Agenda for Action: Recommendations for School Mathematics of the 1980s, NCTM, Reston, Virginia.
NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics): 1989,Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, NCTM, Reston, Virginia.
NRC (National Research Council): 1989,Everybody Counts: A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education, National Academy Press, Washington DC.
Rodd, M.: 1993, ‘Students' views on the nature of mathematics’,Mathematics Teaching 143, 8–10.
Ruthven, K.: 1989, ‘An exploratory approach to advanced mathematics’,Educational Studies in Mathematics 20, 449–467.
Schoenfeld, A.: 1987, ‘Confessions of an accidental theorist’,For the Learning of Mathematics 7(1), 30–38.
Schoenfeld, A.: 1992, ‘Learning to think mathematically: Problem solving, metacognition and sense making in mathematics’, in D. A. Grouws (ed.),Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Macmillan, New York, 334–370.
Schuman, H. and Presser, S.: 1981,Questions and Answers in Attitude Surveys: Experiments on Question Form, Wording and Context, Academic Press, New York.
SPSS: 1988,Advanced Statistics Guide, SPSS, Chicago.
Thompson, A. G.: 1992, ‘Teachers' beliefs and conceptions: A synthesis of the research’, in D. A. Grouws (ed.),Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Macmillan, New York, 127–146.
Winkler, J. D., Kanouse, D. E., and Ware, J. E.: 1982, ‘Controlling for acquiescence response set in scale development’,Journal of Applied Psychology 67(5), 555–561.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ruthven, K., Coe, R. A structural analysis of students' epistemic views. Educ Stud Math 27, 101–109 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01284530
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01284530