High School Math Teachers Research Articles

Experiences of Senior High School Mathematics Teachers in Out-of-field Teaching

The research article focuses on Out-of-field teaching that demands urgent attention from school leaders and administrators due to its impact on instruction quality and student learning particularly in Leyte Division, Philippines. This study describes the challenges as well as the coping mechanisms of out-of-field mathematics teachers. The phenomenological approach was employed to examine the experiences of fifteen senior high school math teachers. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, digitally recorded, transcribed, and was analyzed using the Moustakas method. The results showed that mathematics educators faced challenges when teaching subjects outside their expertise due to lack of content and pedagogical knowledge, resources, student motivation, and training. Despite this matter, they overcame these circumstances through self-learning and adaptive methods. This study determined that teaching subjects without adequate knowledge was problematic as it created interconnected problems. Effectively, a retooling and mentoring program led by subject experts would be beneficial in improving the content and pedagogical knowledge of out-of-field teachers. Meanwhile, school leaders and administrators may conduct profiling to identify the needed teachers and should allocate more school funds for teaching, learning resources, and other materials necessary for instructional delivery

“He understands how I work and how I function”: Math teacher actions that promote autonomy among students with LDs and/or EBDs

Guided by Self-Determination Theory, we conducted a case study of a high school math teacher nominated by students with disabilities as one who enhanced their learning. Using a combination of interviews and classroom observations, we explored the specific strategies that the teacher used to promote perceived autonomy among students with learning disabilities (LDs) and emotional-behavioral disorders (EBDs). The literature offers extensive evidence for the benefits of autonomy-supportive teacher practice, but much of the work was conducted without explicit inclusion of students with LDs and/or EBDs. Our analyses demonstrated that many of the practices captured in this research also worked to support the psychological needs of students with LDs and/or EBDs who participated in this study. Additionally, our case study teacher engaged in two additional strategies that are not currently represented in that body of evidence. As such, we discuss implications for practice and future directions for research.

Development of Test Questionnaire on Selected Topics in Calculus 1 (Final Term)

Future math teachers often struggle with their final calculus exams, highlighting the need for improved assessment methods. This study developed a new multiple-choice calculus test specifically for college students training to be high school math teachers. The primary aim was to create and validate a Calculus 1 final exam for second-year students in the Bachelor of Secondary Education program, majoring in Mathematics, at Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology. A 100-item multiple-choice test was designed based on the approved syllabus and evaluated by three experts for content refinement and 15 student validators for structure. The test’s validity was deemed almost perfect and highly acceptable. It was pilot-tested with 77 students, and item analysis determined the difficulty index, discrimination index, and reliability. Following adjustments, 54 questions were included in the final test form. The reliability coefficient of 0.895 indicates high internal consistency, suggesting that the developed test questionnaire is an excellent tool for classroom assessment.

Investigation of Newly Graduated High School Math Teachers’ TPACK Competence and Levels through Supportive Workshops

Investigation of Newly Graduated High School Math Teachers’ TPACK Competence and Levels through Supportive Workshops

Factors affecting the effectiveness of math teachers’ integrated teaching in Vietnam high schools

The teachers’ effectiveness in teaching is considered an important factor in determining the quality of high schools. Therefore, it is necessary to study the factors affecting the effectiveness of math teaching, especially the integrated teaching competence of math teachers in high schools. The main objective of this study is to determine the factors affecting the integrated teaching effectiveness of high school math teachers. Simultaneously, it proposes some appropriate solutions to help teachers have the opportunity to develop integrated teaching competence, contributing to improving the teaching efficiency of math to meet the current educational innovation requirements in Vietnam. SPSS software was used to analyze and process data from a survey of 118 math teachers at 31 high schools in Vietnam. The results of six analyzed variables show that there are three variables affecting teachers’ effectiveness of integrated teaching, including teacher’s perception of integrated teaching; policy on salary, bonus, and material remuneration for teachers; and student characteristics. In addition, the study also shows that teachers with a master’s degree have higher integrated teaching effectiveness than teachers with bachelor’s degree. The results also reveal that seniority and gender have almost no influence on the integrated teaching effectiveness of teachers. However, there is a statistically significant difference in the effectiveness of integrated teaching in grade 12 math teachers compared to grade 10 and grade 11. The new findings of this study have implications for high schools, teacher training institutions, pedagogical schools, and policymakers to improve the effectiveness of integrated teaching.

Integrating STEAM into flip flop model to improve students’ understanding on composition of functions during online learning

Some previous studies tried to improve students' understanding of the concept of the composition of functions. However, only some research results still examine efforts to increase student understanding of the concept taught online, especially by utilizing the STEAM-integrated Flip Flop learning model. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the level of effectiveness of the application of the STEAM-integrated Flip Flop model in increasing students' understanding of composition function material taught online. To answer the purpose of the study, the authors compared the model with the Flipped Learning model and the conventional learning model. The quantitative method with a pretest-posttest control group design model is employed in the present study by engaging 90 Indonesian senior high school students. This study finds that the STEAM-integrated Flip Flop model is significantly better at improving students' understanding of the composition of function concepts than conventional models. However, the same result is not found if compared with the Flipped Learning model. Though the average score of the STEAM-integrated Flip Flop model is better than the Flipped Learning model, the difference is not significant. This study also describes the related syntax of the STEAM-integrated Flip Flop model that high school math teachers can use to teach better composition functions online.

One good thing, one day at a time: A conversation with Rebecka Peterson

The 2023 National Teacher of the Year Rebecka Peterson is a high school math teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Union High School serves more than 3,000 students, 72% of whom qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, and 62 languages are represented. Peterson, an immigrant to the U.S. whose parents were medical missionaries, builds trust in her classroom through stories—her stories and those of her students. During her first year of teaching, she discovered the “One Good Thing” blog founded by math teachers. It encouraged teachers to post their own stories of good things that happened during the day. The practice of scanning her day for one good thing that had occurred changed her mindset, allowing her to see more good things and finally persuading her to be the “one good thing” for her students each day.

Exploring a Mathematics Teacher’s Conceptions of Infinity: The Case of Louise

Several papers studied infinity from the difficulties that students and teachers show in developing the concept. For this study, it was considered the analysis of the equality 0.999 … = 1. Mainly, this research aims to show that a mathematics teacher presents erroneous conceptions just like a student; that is, both students and teachers have the same difficulties in the concept of infinity. To this aim, a semi-structured interview was conducted with an in-service mathematics teacher in Tlaxcala, Mexico. The purpose of this research is to exhibit a high school math teacher’s misconceptions about the concept of infinity. In general, misconceptions found here can be divided into four groups: without a clear picture of the concept of infinity, an infinite periodic decimal number cannot be a representation of a finite number, a decreasing infinite sum cannot lead to a finite number and an infinite process is limited in real life is finite and has ended. The results obtained were compared with those already available in references about the difficulties with students and teachers, finding that the results shown here are like those reported in the literature. This highlights the need to overcome the teacher’s conceptions of infinity in future research.

Komparasi Kompetensi Profesional Guru Matematika SMP Berdasarkan Status Sertifikasi

This study aims to determine whether there are differences in the professional competency of certified and non-certified junior high school math teachers in Gorontalo City and District regarding teaching motivation. This research is an ex post facto study using a treatment by level 2 x 2 research design. The research was conducted in junior high schools throughout the City and District of Gorontalo in the odd semester of the 2022-2023 school year. Research data were obtained from teacher professional competency test instruments in multiple choice and teaching motivation questionnaires. Data analysis used Two Way Analysis of Variance to test the research hypothesis and further tests were carried out using the Scheffe test. The study results show that: (1) The professional competence of certified teachers is higher than uncertified teachers. (2) There is an interaction effect between certification status and teaching motivation on the professional competence of teachers. (3) In the group of teachers who have high motivation to teach, the professional competence of certified teachers is higher than teachers who are not certified. (4) In the group of teachers who have low motivation to teach, the professional competence of certified teachers is lower than teachers who are not certified. This condition is influenced by several factors such as self-awareness, training activities that are more oriented towards increasing pedagogical competence, and the absence of evaluation activities for post-certification teachers.

A Quantitative Assessment of High School Math Teacher's Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge

The applicability of digital technologies is increasing boundlessly and so are the opportunities of the end-users, with ample opportunities to embed these technologies in the teaching and learning process. Nonetheless, classroom adoption of technologies, particularly in mathematics remains on the lower end of innovation in teaching and learning. To remedy this deficit, education policy makers can take advantage of the existing Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. After multiple analyses of Iranian Teachers' self -assessed TPACK, this study places them within the TPACK spectrum, and provides evidence-based policy recommendations. We provide avenues to enhance the effectiveness of mathematics teacher education programs in Iran. We accomplish this by surveying 399 teachers; we then quantify their self-reported assessment of their TPACK; we then determine how their self-reported assessment related to each construct, and their mediating roles, of technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), technological content knowledge (TCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). We achieve this by means of structural equation modeling. Our results suggest the existence of high correlations among TPACK components. Additionally, PCK, TPK and TCK had mediating roles in the relationship between three main constructs TK, CK and PK.

Classroom Quantitative Evaluation: A Method of Both Formative and Summative Evaluation

As the most important carrier of education and teaching, the quality of classroom teaching directly affects the quality of formal school education. Traditional classroom teaching evaluation is usually based on expert experience, which can only give sporadic and one-sided evaluation results, and it is difficult for teachers to obtain systematic and operational improvement schemes, which has caused great obstacles to teachers’ sustainable development. Based on the concept of teachers’ sustainable development and Flanders Interactive Analysis System (FIAS), this study evaluates classroom teaching from two aspects: formative evaluation and summative evaluation. From the perspective of formative evaluation, a quantitative comprehensive analysis framework of classroom teaching language is constructed from two aspects of matrix analysis and dynamic curve analysis. The matrix analysis makes an in-depth analysis of classroom teaching from five aspects: classroom teaching structure, teaching style, classroom atmosphere, variable analysis, and question innovation degree. The dynamic curve of the classroom is analyzed from three aspects: teacher talk, student talk, as well as silence and confusion. From the perspective of summative evaluation, this paper combines the projection pursuit of entropy (PPE) model to form a class teaching grade evaluation model. On the basis of the above model, this study selects 5 + 5 (five expert teachers and five novice teachers) lessons that have heterogeneous forms for the same subject with Chinese high school math teachers as the research objects. Based on this framework, the verbal information of classroom teaching is encoded and a thorough analysis is carried on from the perspective of formative assessment, while at the same time, the level of classroom teaching evaluation is given from the perspective of formative evaluation. The results show that expert teachers use indirect discourse more, they also pay more attention to blank space and have a more harmonious classroom atmosphere as well as ask more innovative questions compared to novice teachers. Under the PPE model, expert teachers have higher scores than novice teachers. This study provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis scheme for the comprehensive evaluation of classroom teaching, which not only provides comprehensive and operational information for teachers to improve their classroom teaching, but also guarantees the sustainable development of teachers’ specialization, and provides a solution for the summative evaluation of classroom teaching.

WE ASKED TEACHERS: DO YOU KNOW WHAT DYSCALCULIA IS?

This study aims to determine the knowledge levels of primary school, mathematics, special education, and Psychological Counseling & Guidance (PCG) teachers on Dyscalculia. A descriptive survey model was used for the research. Four hundred eighty-nine teachers were selected for the study, including 254 primary school teachers, 130 high school math teachers, 53 psychologists, 28 special educators, and 24 secondary school math teachers. A survey form devised by Dias, Pereira, and Van Borsel (2013) during the research, including 18 questions, 2 of which were open-ended and 16 were closed-ended, was used. The obtained data reveal that most participating teachers do not have adequate knowledge and experience on the meaning, effects, root causes of dyscalculia, and the intervention strategies for dyscalculic children.

Do students like us because we teach well? The popularity of high school mathematics teachers

Mathematics is a highly esteemed discipline in high schools in Ghana; hence, mathematics teachers enjoy exceptionally high prestige, which by default makes them popular. However, not all mathematics teachers are popular, perhaps because such teachers do not provide quality mathematics instruction. Although the speculation that teaching quality can prompt teacher popularity, just as teachers’ popularity may be a candidate for teaching quality abounds, research studies that seek to relate mathematics teachers’ popularity to the quality of their instruction are scarce. Using closed and open-ended questionnaires, data on teacher popularity and instructional quality from 774 high school students was used to explore the predictability of teacher popularity from the quality of their mathematics instruction. The study found high school mathematics teachers to be generally popular and provided quality mathematics instruction. Although teacher popularity was predicted by quality instruction, teachers’ instructional practices of fostering mathematics explanation and providing feedback were not significant predictors of teachers’ popularity. Nevertheless, teachers’ adaptive support was the major reason students liked their mathematics teachers. This study also showed that the levels of popularity showed how different high school math teachers did different things to improve the quality of their lessons.

Organizational support and job crafting with the new math teachers' well-being: The mediating effect of basic psychological needs.

Enhancement of the teacher well-being level has grown into a general, pressing problem to be solved in the domain of education worldwide. Based on the theoretical perspective of the multi-level dynamically formed mechanical model of occupational well-being, this study initially constructed a mechanism model with the occupational well-being role of organizational support, job crafting, and the occupational well-being of new math teachers at primary and junior high schools, and conducted empirical research using structural equation modeling. The study found out that organizational support, job crafting and basic psychological needs have prominent and positive effects on the occupational well-being of the new math teachers in primary up to junior high schools. It also argues that basic psychological needs may mediate the correlation between organizational support, job crafting, and the occupational well-being of the new math teachers. To sum up, the study findings reveal the mechanisms of the role in organizational support and job crafting on the occupational well-being of new primary up to junior high school math teachers. Also, the findings may be conducive to extending the research on the factors that influence the teacher well-being, notably fostering the study on that in the math teachers in the primary up to junior high schools of China.

수학 수업 계획과 실행에서 교육과정 주목하기와 수학교수 지식과의 관계

Objectives In this study, for the math teacher professional development, the relationship between curriculum noticing and the mathematical knowledge for teaching was investigated, and by looking at the lesson plan and implementation through the curriculum noticing. Methods For the purpose, We examine curriculum noticing and mathematical knowledge for teaching. A case study method was adopted to collect and analyze data on a specific case, and one high school math teacher was selected as the study target. Results First, the curriculum noticing affects enacting lesson by influencing the process of developing and selecting tasks to be used in class in the lesson plan. It was confirmed that HCK, one of mathematical knowledge for teaching, affects the process of curriculum noticing. It is influenced by how it is used in the curriculum noting. Third, the process from teacher's lesson plan to implementation can be seen as a process of decentralization to PCK by using SMK in curriculum noticing. Conclusions This study, the curriculum noticing in the lesson plann and implementation and the role of the knowledge of the math teacher and follow-up tasks were suggested for the professional development of the math teacher.

REU program as a student-centered, project-based environment for teaching math in California State University

Starting from 2004, within the last years California State University at Chico (CSUC) hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates and Teachers (REUT) program in Mathematics. The program targets secondary teachers with a strong interest in mathematics or math education (RET) and students who have completed their junior year with coursework appropriate to the research project (REU). The program is designed to engage participants in research problems with a high potential for publication and to create a research experience that broadens participants’ perspective both of mathematics as a discipline and of research (whether mathematical or not) as an exciting exploratory process. During this period the large group of undergraduate students from different US universities and high school math teachers were involved in numerous research projects in pure and applied math, in math education and statistics. Working on the research projects the participants acquire the fundamental mathematical concepts and also studied how to apply modern IT technologies and computational systems for solving various math problems. We provide a research experience that enhances the skills necessary for careers in any of the sciences, while adding both depth and breadth to the participant’s mathematical knowledge, skill, and understanding. The depth comes primarily from participation in a research team working on a potentially publishable research problem, while breadth is added by activities that integrate all research teams, by in-service teacher/undergraduate interactions, and by synergistic activities such as weekly research talks. Mathematical activities are supplemented with social activities conducive to creating a productive and comfortable research environment.

Beyond Tracking: The Relationship of Opportunity to Learn and Diminished Math Outcomes for U.S. High School Students

Background/Context: In this study, we draw on evolving definitions of opportunity to learn (OTL) to conceptualize mathematics OTL has having two main components: structural OTL, defined by gatekeeping access to specific mathematics courses through the process of tracking, and instructional OTL, defined by the learning experiences of students in their mathematics courses. We also conceptualize both of these aspects of OTL as occurring in the current educational milieu, where sociopolitical factors reward or punish specific school strategies. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study seeks to examine, using an OTL framework, the relationship between high school math teachers’ instructional practices, students’ course tracks in mathematics, students’ perceptions of mathematics, and students’ distal measures of academic attainment, including completion of advanced math coursework and completion of a high school diploma. Research Design: Using latent class analysis, this secondary data analysis analyzed the 2009 High School Longitudinal Study data from the National Center for Educational Statistics to examine mathematics instructional OTL based on math teachers’ objectives of emphasis and its relationship to structural OTL in the form of course tracking. Findings/Results: We identified “Enriched” and “Rote Knowledge and Skills” latent classes of math OTL. Teachers providing Enriched OTL emphasize the widest variety of objectives, including cognitively demanding problem-solving and logic objectives and practical applications of mathematics, while teachers providing Rote Knowledge OTL emphasize basic computation, algorithms, and computation skills. Black students, Hispanic students, and students living in poverty were more likely to be in math OTL classes focused primarily on basic concepts, algorithms, and computation, with little to no emphasis in more applied and cognitively demanding math course objectives, and they were less likely to be enrolled in advanced ninth-grade math courses. Students in Rote Knowledge OTL courses with little to no emphasis in applied and cognitively demanding math course objectives had lower mathematics identity and self-efficacy, and math achievement. Conclusions/Recommendations: This study adds to the literature suggesting that students in the United States experience an opportunity gap rather than an achievement gap, and that opportunity gaps are both structural and instructional. This study also adds to the literature suggesting student sorting systems are inherently unequal and must be addressed through policy, leadership, and cultural shifts in both schools and districts.

The Journey of Junior High School Math Teachers in Module Development: A Phenomenological Study

The study explored the Lived Experienced of High School Math Teachers. The outcomes of this study provide insight into math teachers' viewpoints, tactics used, and obstacles and struggles they had throughout COVID-19 module creation. The phenomenological methodology was utilized given the goal of this study is gaining insights into the lived experienced of high school math teachers in module development. Likewise, six participants hailed from different parts of the Department of Education Division of Lapu-Lapu City, using purposive sampling in the selection process. The study revealed twelve significant themes including, (1) viewpoint towards mathematics, (2) mantra in teaching mathematics, (3) role as a math teacher, (4) strategies employed in teaching, (5) sentiments, (6) pressure, (7) module creation, (8) strategies employed in module development, (9) struggles in module creation, (10) motivation, (11) module enhancement/Alteration, and (12) output satisfaction. In creating the modules, the module writers were terrified, hesitant and under pressure. During module development, they encountered difficulties. Despite their difficulties, they completed the module. They were happy and satisfied to have created a module for the students.

Narratives of Nepali school mathematics teachers on classroom questioning techniques

This article examines the impact of Nepali math teachers’ questioning methods on current classroom practices in mathematics pedagogy. In this collection of short stories, four high school math teachers of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal share their experiences. This investigation used a criterion-based selection strategy to select high school math teachers. This article aims to focus on the difficulties students face in the classroom using questioning techniques. Behaviorist, social constructivist, and constructivist theoretical frameworks are employed in this study. “How do high school math teachers describe their questioning techniques?” was the research question for this study. I listened to four math teachers’ perspectives to learn more about the power dynamics in the classroom, specifically who is valued and whose voice can be heard when students ask questions in the context of a narrative inquiry for meaning making. Most high school math teachers initially appear to conformists to perceived appropriate method of questioning but later become nonconformists, which is defined as being more adaptable in their questioning technique. Many high school math teachers also ask a wide range of questions, from simple to complex, in the belief that this encourages students to participate in the mathematical discussion.

Secondary/High School Mathematics Teachers' and Mathematics Teacher Candidates' Opinions about HTTM (History/Theory/Technology/Modeling) Learning Process

"Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the opinions of the secondary and high school mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher candidates who have been educated about HTTM learning process and experienced HTTM activities in the classroom environment about HTTM learning process. The study is a basic qualitative research study conducted with a qualitative understanding. The sample of the study consisted of three secondary school maths teachers working in different secondary schools and three high school math teachers working in different high schools in Turkey during 2016-2017 academic year, five senior class students who are secondary school mathematics teacher candidates taking teaching practice course and applying teaching practices at different secondary schools and five high school mathematics teacher candidates applying teaching practices at different high schools. The data of the study is comprised of video analysis of the interviews conducted through semi-structured interview form with the secondary and high school mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher candidates. Content analysis technique was used in the research. As a result of the data analysis, a two-dimensional structure related to HTTM learning process was obtained. In the first dimension of the findings 15 themes were obtained. These are preparation, time, flexibility, interdisciplinary nature, contemporary skills, technology integration, history of science integration, working with groups, metacognitive skills, conceptual understanding, projects, problem posing, motivation, evaluation and teacher competency. In the second dimension of the findings; benefits, difficulties and suggestions related to 15 themes were put forward."