Framework for Articulating Relation between Teachers' Practices and Students' Self-efficacy in Teaching and Learning Euclidian Geometry in High School

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore a framework for articulating the relationship between teachers' practices and students' self-efficacy in teaching and learning of Euclidean Geometry (RTP&SS-EG) in high school. The effective learning of Mathematics, especially Euclidean Geometry by students, is directly influenced by teachers' confidence and competence. The RTP&SS-EG framework was developed based on the gap in literature revealed through international studies, indicating a direct relationship between teachers with a higher level of self-efficacy, and students' achievement. However, the researchers did not come across national studies promoting the relationship between the teachers' practices and students' self-efficacy on the learning of Euclidean Geometry in high school. The question asked was: To what extent is the relationship between the teachers' practices and the students' self-efficacy in teaching and learning of Euclidean Geometry in High school? Geometry Students Self-Efficacy (SGS-EQ) and Geometry Teacher Self-Efficacy questionnaire (GTS-EQ) were utilized. The participants were 81 Mathematics teachers, and 390 Grade 10-12 students from the Mpumalanga and North West provinces in South Africa. Reliability for the entire scale of both instruments computed in terms of the internal consistency was found to be .83. To establish the content validity of the scores from both instruments, the exploratory factor analysis was computed using varimax rotation. The four-factor solution accounting for 43.03% of the total variance was obtained from 36 items of the GTS-EQ. A five-factor solution for 45.37% of the total explained variance was obtained from the 46 items of the SGS-EQ. In RTP&SS-EG, three education theories, constructivism, social constructivism and social cognitivism, policies, as well as teacher and student self-efficacy principles enjoin the practice enacted from the relation between the teachers' practices and the students' self-efficacy in the learning of Euclidean Geometry. The findings revealed that the learning value associated with the relationship between teachers' practices and students' self-efficacy may be integrated into the everyday preparations of teaching-learning plans in Euclidean Geometry. It is critical that policymakers, curriculum developers, teachers and students make use of this model to ensure that self-efficacy of both teachers and students is taken into consideration in Euclidean Geometry.