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A Study of Dominican Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Explanations of Factors Affecting Their Instructional Practices

  • Author / Creator
    Charles, Christopher
  • The purpose of this study was to gain an explanation from teachers on any relationship which exist between students’ performance on the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) mathematics examination and Dominican secondary teachers’ mathematical knowledge, frequency of use of 12 teaching strategies, and beliefs about the teaching of mathematics.The study was conducted using Creswell’s (2013) explanatory sequential mixed methods design which included a quantitative data collection phase which was used to inform a qualitative data collection phase.
    Phase one, the quantitative phase, was a survey of all fourth and fifth forms teachers (N=47) in Dominica. The analysed results of the survey were used to prepare the questions used in data collection in phase two. In phase two of this study, six highly experienced teachers from the surveyed participants participated in a group discussion. The group discussion was used to provide a data source used to develop teachers’ explanations of any relationship, or lack of, that they observed between students’ CXC mathematics performance and teachers’ mathematical knowledge, frequency of use of recommended teaching strategies, and beliefs about the teaching of mathematics. Group discussions were audiotaped with relevant sections transcribed and used in the presentation of results.
    The results from the quantitative analysis and the qualitative analysis were synthesized to answer the research question: In what ways will Dominican secondary mathematics teachers explain any relationship between students’ CXC performance and teachers’ mathematical knowledge, frequency of use of recommended teaching strategies, and beliefs about the teaching of mathematics? Focus group participants offered several explanations for their observations of possible relationships between students’ CXC mathematics performance and teachers’ mathematical knowledge, frequency of use of recommended teaching strategies, and beliefs about the teaching of mathematics. Group participants articulated that most Dominican secondary teachers possessed a good grasp of the mathematics content needed to teach students preparing for CXC mathematics, but, in general did not frequently use recommended strategies nor did they demonstrate the ability and/or willingness to allow their teaching practices to reflect what they believed are sound pedagogical practices.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Fall 2015
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Master of Education
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z31NW9T
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.