Browsing by Author "Teräsvasara, Juha"

Aims. Problem solving plays a key role in the foundations of the basic education curriculum and is one of the seven main objectives of mathematics teaching. (National Board of Education 2014) The student's positive attitude towards mathematics has been found to be related to better learning outcomes (Niemi, 2008). A teacher who is more positive about mathematics is more likely to get his or her students excited about studying mathematics (Hattie 2012). This study examines how students with dual-grade teachers in mathematics differ from the national level in problem-solving skills and mathematical attitudes in lower elementary school. Methods. The study is quantitative in nature. All elementary classes involved in the study were taught by a teacher who completed the dual qualification of mathematics. The material was collected mainly through electronic forms sent to teachers. Problem-solving skills were tested with the tests of the 2018-2019 Kangaroo Math Competition and attitudes to study mathematics with Fennema-Sherman's (1976) scale of mathematical attitudes. The attitude survey measured attitudes towards mathematics, pupils’ confidence in mathematics, and the engagement of mathematics teaching. The data were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics. Results and conclusions. In the problem-solving test, the performance level of the experimental group was lower than the national data. In the attitude survey there was no statistically significant difference between the groups on attitudes towards mathematics. There was no statistically significant difference found in students confidence in their own mathematical skills but the students' engagement was stronger for the research material with the result being statistically significant. Based on this study it appears that the qualifications of dual-qualified lower elementary school teachers find teaching more engaging than Finnish students in general, and that dual-qualified teachers are more successful in implementing gender equality.