1. Adult innumeracy and the influence of negative mathematics attitudes, low self-efficacy beliefs, and mathematics anxiety in student primary teachers – an interventionist approach for better practice Dr Chris Klinger University of South Australia chris.klinger@unisa.edu.au

2. Connection between adult innumeracy and mathematics anxiety roots of both found to lie in primary education role of teachers in middle to late primary years Introduction

3. a study in 3 parts… 1.IMAES to identify student teachers’ perceptions of mathematics, including their own capabilities 2.Skills test – administered as a diagnostic intervention 3.Reflection on attitudes towards & perceptions of mathematics in the context of the intervention …findings support a ‘functional deficit’ hypothesis

4. Recap – primary teachers and the IMAES instrument Over critical 4 yrs, 60-70% at risk (or worse) of being ‘turned off’ maths Causal factors: –attributes of primary teachers –attributes of pre-service primary teachers –framework of educational systems, schools, curriculum practices Enjoy learning maths * Self-confidence in learning maths ** Agree a lotDisagreeHighLow 4 th grade46% (50%)16% (22%)55%11% 8 th grade25% (29%)31% (35%)40%22% Difference-46% (-27%)94% (59%)-27%100% * same cohort sampled (1995/99) * * different cohorts (2003) Facts from TIMMS 2003:

5. the IMAES instrument… IMAES * questionnaire – a multi-part instrument using (mostly) 5-point Likert scales with 95 statements about: –math attitude affective, behavioural, cognitive domains –math anxiety –math self-efficacy belief –past/early math learning experiences Demographic info collected, also Factor analysis & reliability testing –confirmed survey design i.e. that items correspond to respective domains * Inventory of Maths Anxiety, Attitude, Experience, & Self-awareness

6. IMAES results in a nutshell Pre-service [student] primary school teachers tend to have pervasive mathematics anxiety, negative attitudes & low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs that are more extreme than those found in any other undergraduate group

7. Diagnosis, evaluation, intervention and reflection – a ‘DT’ approach School of Education at UniSA: o proactive response to challenge of math-averse student primary teachers o 3-part strategy 1.Diagnostic Test (DT) in four sections (may be attempted 3 times) a)number: place value, arithmetic operations, money, fractions, decimals, and percentage b)space and measurement c)data (including tables, graphs and diagrams) & chance d)patterns (including simple algebraic relations), number theory (e.g. prime numbers) & order of operations (‘BODMAS’) 2.Supplementary lectures, tutorials & 1:1 support 3.Reflective questionnaire

8. Intervention Minimum 80% required per section for ‘mastery’ All sections must be mastered ‘3 strikes and you’re out’ Additional voluntary (extra-curricular) lectures, tutorials & 1:1 support provided… encouragement to reflect on diagnostic results & seek tuition and support according to individual needs initial tutorial groups are quite large (30-50), reducing to small-group tutorials (12-20) and 1:1 tuition staffed with casual tutors, drawn (increasingly) from schools and/or professional organisations; recognized expertise o tuition objectives to promote understanding rather than remediation

9. Summary of Diagnostic Test (undergraduate, 2007)

10. Summary of Diagnostic Test (graduate entry, 2007) 68.5% unable to demonstrate mastery, but proportion of successful students almost double that of undergraduate cohort

11. Reflection… affective assessment diagnostic tools & procedures appear to be highly effective reflective questionnaire: o “It was great to see from the beginning what we knew and needed help with.” o “I think the remedial classes helped me immensely.” o “I had completely forgotten these maths concepts and I now look at my own everyday activities in a very different light.” almost 2/3 of students believed the DT identified areas for improvement of which they were previously unaware: o “I had unrealistic ideas about my abilities in all areas.” o “I thought I was doing the question correctly in the original DT however got them wrong.” o “It took the DT for me to realize what areas needed revision and I probably would not otherwise have been aware of them.”

12. Conclusion IMAES profiles are robust in their ability to characterise affective, cognitive, and behavioural attributes DT cohorts are not atypical & DT results confirm that the postulated behaviours are manifested in these groups if unchecked, there’s a tangible & substantial risk to generations of primary pupils a cohort of ~130 student teachers might be expected to reach 50,000 individuals BUT positive interventions in teacher education programs are both possible and necessary