Browsing by Subject "matematiikan opetus"
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Luokanopettajien käsityksiä ymmärtävän oppimisen tukemisesta alakoulun matematiikan opetuksessa (2021)Objectives. The objective of this pro gradu thesis is to survey what class teachers think about the sup- port of and factors related to learning mathematics with understanding. One of the most important goals of the teaching of mathematics, according to both research into the teaching of mathematics and the curriculum for mathematics, is to support pupils in their development of mathematical understan- ding. According to studies this goal has not yet been attained, as mathematics teaching more often supports procedural knowledge than learning mathematics with understanding. In this study I set out to find out what are the things class teachers consider important for the success in teaching mathema- tics with understanding. This study aims at collecting information about the areas we should pay at- tention to in the teaching of mathematics, in its research and in teacher training to make it possible to achieve the goal of teaching that supports mathematical understanding. Methods. The material of the study consists of thematic interviews with six class teachers who are interested or specialized in mathematics. The material was analyzed by means of a qualitative content analysis. I made use of the Atlas.ti software that is intended for qualitative data analysis. In my ana- lysis I raised two themes that my results are based on. Results and conclusions. What class teachers conceived of as supporting learning with understanding was related either with the teaching-learning process or the teacher. Supporting mathematical unders- tanding seemed to form a process that starts with the orientation into a new subject as well as the use of concrete models, after which the new subject matter is being rehearsed with the help of, for example, textbook exercises. The development of mathematical network of knowledge and the skill to apply mathematics were seen as a consequence of understanding. Hearing and speaking mathema- tical language was thought to support mathematical understanding throughout the process. For lear- ning with understanding to succeed it is furthermore important that the teachers themselves know and understand mathematics and plan the teaching of mathematics carefully. It appears that success in the teaching of mathematics that supports learning with understanding depends on whether the teachers have sufficient knowledge and skills to plan and carry out such teaching.
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(2016)Research of emotional atmosphere and aspects affecting it is important, because emotional atmosphere affects students' learning and well-being. In this thesis the emotional atmosphere is treated as a whole that comprises both the students' and the teacher's affects and their interactions in the classroom. The aim of the thesis is to increase understanding of the emotional atmosphere in mathematics lessons. The main focus is to determine how emotional atmosphere changes from 3rd grade to 5th grade. Furthermore I'm trying to determine which factors could explain the change in emotional atmosphere in a class where it had shifted towards positive, and in a class where it had shifted towards negative. The data consisted of a total of 260 drawings about mathematics lessons drawn by 3rd and 5th graders. The pupils were from eight different mathematics classes in five different primary schools in the Helsinki metropolitan area. To analyze the drawings I used drawing analysis. I examined the emotional atmosphere in mathematics lessons from 3rd and 5th grade on a general level. As part of this analysis I examined the students' affects concerning their feelings towards studying mathematics, their beliefs on the difficulty of the subject and their attitude towards the subject. Teachers' affects were studied from the perspective of the drawer. On this basis I determined the teachers' emotional states and whether their speech had negative or positive characteristics. Furthermore I examined the drawings from two mathematic classes that had undergone the greatest positive or negative changes in their emotional atmosphere to determine what could explain this shift. As a summary it can be concluded that the emotional atmosphere in mathematics lessons was mainly positive even though the emotional atmosphere was more negative in 5th grade than 3rd grade. Furthermore there were also great differences between classes both in 3rd grade and 5th grade. Aspects that could explain the positive change in emotional atmosphere were open interaction, culture of helping and meaningful experience of mathematics. Aspects that could explain the negative change were negativity of interactions, problematic social relations, differences in mathematic skills of pupils and boredom.
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(2020)Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Aims. Our cultur is getting pictorial at a tremendious rate. The number of pictures around us is very plentiful. We often take pictures as an obvious part of learning materials. Yet their importance for learning has been studied very little. I seek to gain insight into the perceptions teachers have of the importance of pictures in primary school maths learning materials. I also try to clarify the teachers’ thoughts on the descriptions of a good teaching picture. It was assumed that pictures in a learning material play a major role in the mathematics learning of a primary school pupil. Previous studies have shown that the use of pictures in teaching mathematics is useful for learning especially when pictures are closely related to both the subject being learned and the world of childrend’s experiences. Methods. The research data was collected between June and November 2017 by interviewing seven pre-primary and class teachers from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The teachers had several years of experience teaching mathematics in primary school. The analytical approach was to analyse the content through a thematic interview. The theme was the use of pictures in mathematics teaching. Results and conclusions. The teachers felt that the use of pictures was an important or very important part of teaching mathematics. The clarity of the pictures and the signifigance of everyday life were important criteria for a good teaching picture. In addition to the finished pictures it was considered important to make the teacher’s and the pupil’s own drawings.The concept of a picture also included operational tools and the observable environment. Challenges appeared in the pupils’ difficulty in perceiving pictures and the lack of ability to train in image literacy. The importance of pictures for learning is great, both based on previous studies and this thesis. The use of pictures in teaching will continue to be an important part of learning mathematics.
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(2019)Goals. The study focuses on students´questions in mathematics in preparatory class. When focusing on students´questions it´s possible to examine the ways how students ask questions and what kind of problems students face when learning mathematics and new language at the same time. The context of this study is the beginning of language learning. The theoretical basis of this study is in theories of classroom interaction and socialisation to new language. The aim of this study is to examine what kind of questions students ask and what kind of functions the questions have. Methods. The study was carried out as part of the project Meeting in the middle at the University of Helsinki. The data was collected in a 7th-9th preparatory class. The data consist of six videotaped lessons. There was 6 – 11 students in those lessons and the class teacher and sometimes also a school assistant. The method of analysis is conversation analysis. Findings and conclusions. Students asked quite lot questions in mathematic lessons. Every student asked questions from teacher but the form of the questions varied. Students asked yes/no questions, wh-questions and also nonverbal questions. The questions were divided in three categories based in the functions of the questions. The first group was checking questions. The students used those questions to varify their understanding, answers or calculation. The second group consisted of inquiry questions. These questions were motivated from assignments or teacher´s speech.Those questions were mainly asked by students with higher Finnish skills. The third group of questions consist of request of help. In that kind of questions students expressed that they needed help but they didn´t individualised the point of the problem. Teacher had an important role to solve the point of the problem. Nonverbal communication and single words had also a big role in these questions.
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(2015)There are large differences in the level of development and mathematic skills among first grade students. The same teaching is therefore not suitable for all students. All students, even the skilled ones, need education and support appropriate to their needs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how teachers feel about and carry out the differentiation for high achievers in first grade. In addition, the aim was to find out teachers opinions on how differentiation for high achievers has been taken into account in the book series "Kymppi" teaching material. The data was collected as a theme interview in this study. The study involved four teachers, two of which have been authoring the book series "Kymppi" teaching material. The interview material was transcribed and analyzed using theory oriented content analysis method. The differentiation for high achievers was considered as a time and skill differentiation; additional tasks for fast students and challenging tasks for skilled students. The differentiation for high achievers was considered important. The differences in skills was considered the most important reason to differentiate. Loss of motivation, frustration, boredom, underachievement, false conceptions of mathematics and behavior problems were mentioned as potential consequences of unchallenging teaching. High achievers were also considered to be different from each other, although in general they are fast in calculations. As a means of identifying high achievers were mentioned observations, tests, exams and prior knowledge from pre-school. As a means of differentiation for high achievers were used grouping, different equipment and additional tasks. The differentiation for high achievers was considered challenging. Lack of time, material shortage, differences in students' skills, low quality of teaching material, lack of skills among students and teacher's own fears were highlighted in the interviews. The book series "Kymppi" was considered to include enough teaching material for differentiation for high achievers. Assignments for high achievers were considered challenging and different than base level assignments. These aspects were considered important for assignments for high achievers. The authors of the book series "Kymppi" also thought that it was important to stay in the same numeric range as in the base level teaching.
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(2021)There are hardly any differences in mathematical competence between genders. Instead, differences arise in attitudes and interest towards mathematics. Yet according to previous studies, teachers’ beliefs about mathematical learning are gendered. Girls have been seen to succeed merely due to hard work, while boys have been seen as possessing a natural talent for mathematics, but lacking in effort (Soro, 2004; Walkerdine, 1998). The aim of this study is to research mathematics teachers’ beliefs concerning gender in school mathematics, and to compare the data with Soro’s thesis research, and thus gain information on whether teachers’ beliefs have changed in the past 20 years. Out of the 72 secondary education mathematics teachers participating in the study, one fourth were men. Participants were sought out through MAOL Ry, an association for STEM teachers. The study was conducted as a survey. The survey consisted of Likert questions and open-ended questions about the achievement levels and attitudes of boys and girls in mathematics education, about the educational choices students make, and about achieving gender equality in mathematics education. The survey form was an adapted version of Soro’s (2004) thesis study. As background information, teachers were asked about their age, gender, teaching experience, and location. The data was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In the structured section the most common answer was that there are no differences between genders in school mathematics. The teachers saw boys underachieving due to laziness, and girls as more willing to work to learn. Girls were more commonly perceived as hard-working and as avoiding using their intelligence. Boys were seen to dominate teaching situations, to have higher expectations of succeeding in mathematics, and to possess more ability. Teachers described girls and boys differently, but successful pupils were described as conscientious, regardless of gender. Teachers’ belief profiles had changed compared to Soro. Their views of gender equality in mathematics were largely gender neutral or close to gender conscious. The most important way of promoting gender equal mathematics education by teachers was by using diverse exercises and examples. A slightly smaller number of teachers answered that they were doing nothing to promote it.
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(2021)Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract The research aims to examine class teachers’ experiences of the Hungarian-based Varga–Neményi method in first grade mathematics teaching. According to the Finnish education curriculum (2014), the task of mathematics in grades 1–2 is to develop students’ logical, precise and creative mathematical thinking. In response to these goals, the Varga–Neményi method offers an experimental and student-centered approach to the teaching of mathematics. Exploring the advantages of the method can provide an understanding of the significance of the method as well as encourage new teachers to use the method. On the other hand, examining the challenges of the method can help in developing the method and addressing the possible problem areas. The research was conducted using qualitative research methods. The data was collected using thematic interviews with five class teachers. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The data was analysed following the principles of thematic analysis. The Varga–Neményi method was seen as a useful teaching method in the first grade. The main advantages of the method turned out to be the student-centeredness, students’ positive mathematical image and factors related to learning and teacher’s work. On the other hand, the challenges were initiating with the method, subject didactics, arduousness of the method and factors related to the learning materials. The results were in line with the results of previous studies. However, the research increases the understanding of the overall advantages of the method for the learning mathematics and also the challenges that the teacher may face when using the method.
Now showing items 1-7 of 7