Dr Chris Klinger University of South Australia chris.klinger@unisa.au

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 KlingerUniversity of South Australia chris.klinger@unisa.edu.au

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

3. a study in 3 parts… • IMAES to identify student teachers’ perceptions of mathematics, including their own capabilities • Skills test – administered as a diagnostic intervention • 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 Facts from TIMMS 2003: • 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 * same cohort sampled (1995/99) * * different cohorts (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 aremore extreme than those found in any other undergraduate group

7. Diagnosis, evaluation, intervention and reflection – a ‘DT’ approach • School of Education at UniSA: • proactive response to challenge of math-averse student primary teachers • 3-part strategy • Diagnostic Test (DT) in four sections (may be attempted 3 times) • number: place value, arithmetic operations, money, fractions, decimals, and percentage • space and measurement • data (including tables, graphs and diagrams) & chance • patterns (including simple algebraic relations), number theory (e.g. prime numbers) & order of operations (‘BODMAS’) • Supplementary lectures, tutorials & 1:1 support • 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 • 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: • “It was great to see from the beginning what we knew and needed help with.” • “I think the remedial classes helped me immensely.” • “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: • “I had unrealistic ideas about my abilities in all areas.” • “I thought I was doing the question correctly in the original DT however got them wrong.” • “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