Resumen de Pre-service teacher s' mathematics teaching beliefs and mathematical content knowledge
The study of mathematical knowledge in the initial training of pre-teachers is essential, since the knowledge of the teachers influences that of the students. Besides, it is also important to measure the pre-service and in-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs and attitude towards mathematics. It is thought that the self-efficacy a teacher feels whithin the mathematics area will influence the self-efficacy of her/his students. The goal of this Thesis is to study the initial mathematical knowledge of pre-service teachers and also their mathematics efficacy beliefs and attitude towards mathematics. To carry out the study of the initial knowledge of numbers and geometry, 20 items of TIMSS 2011 were selected and a test was applied to 97 first-year students from the Rovira and Virgili University.
Furthermore, in other to study the pre-service teachers’ belief about the efficacy of their mathematics teaching throughout the Bachelor Degree, preservice teachers of each year of the Primary Education Degree answered the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (MTEBI) at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. The MTEBI is comprised of two subscales, namely, Personal Mathematics Teaching Efficacy (PMTE) and Mathematics Teaching Outcome Expectancy (MTOE).
It is also important to measure the mathematics teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectancy of pre-service teachers, novice in-service teachers (up to 10 years of experience) and experienced in-service teachers (more than 10 years of experience) are compared. The MTEBI is used to carry out the study.
Additionally, the relation between mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers, their attitude towards mathematics and their mathematics academic achievement is studied. Specifically, this part of the Thesis considers both factors together and studies their correlation with mathematics academic achievement. To evaluate mathematics academic achievement, the grades obtained in the teaching and learning mathematics course that student took in the second year of the Degree are collected. The MTEBI is used to measure the teachers’ efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers. Besides, the Attitude towards Mathematics Scale (AMS) is used to rate students’ attitude towards mathematics.
Moreover, the influence of the teaching experience, the level of education and the level of teaching on mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs is studied. Concretely, the MTBEI is answered by 354 primary and secondary in-service teachers in Tarragona city.
Finally, this Thesis compares the self-efficacy for the teaching of mathematics of students in the fourth year of the Basic General Education Degree at the Azuay University, in Cuenca, Ecaudor, and the fourth year of the Primary Education Degree at the Rovira and Virgili University, in Tarragona, Spain. The subscale Personal Mathematics Teaching Efficacy is used to measure the self-efficacy of teaching mathematics.
The results of this Thesis offer potentially important information on mathematical knowledge, teachers’ efficacy beliefs, self-efficacy of mathematics teaching and the attitude towards mathematics of pre-service teachers. It also provides information about in-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs. These results can help policy-makers, curriculum developers, and teaching professors in higher education institutes.
