Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe effects of trait anxiety, mathematical ability, method of testing, task difficulty, and their interactions, on state anxiety and performance in mathematics at primary school( 1979)A review was made of the theoretical and research literature related to the trait-state concept of anxiety, the relationship of anxiety to academic performance; and some factors confounding the anxiety, performance relationship. A study investigating the differential effect of anxiety on performance under two different methods of testing was reviewed. A study to replicate the findings related to anxiety, performance and varying test precedures was proposed. Data collected in the study made possible an investigation of Spielberger's Trait-State concept of anxiety and Spence's Drive Theory. One hundred and seventy six male, State primary school children drawn from sixteen grade five and six classes took part in the study. All testing was carried out in term I of 1978. As hypothesized the formal method of testing proved to be more anxiety arousing than the informal method of testing and students performed better under the latter testing procedure. Low anxious students performed better than high anxious students under both testing conditions. The study provided further support for Spielberger's Trait-State anxiety theory with high trait anxious students displaying higher levels of state anxiety than law trait anxious students, confirming that the State-A scale is a sensitive device for measuring differential anxiety arousal. The hypotheses related to Spence's Drive Theory were only partially supported by the results. Explanations as to why the interaction between task difficulty, ability and anxiety might not have been significant in this study were discussed. In general this study found evidence confirming the notion that high anxiety hinders performance, particularly for low ability students.
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ItemAttitudes of teachers to the objectives of mathematics education in the junior secondary school( 1976)At the same time as "New Maths" was being gradually introduced, secondary schools in Victoria became largely responsible for their own curriculum. This devolution of responsibility was coupled with a serious questioning of the meaning and purpose of secondary education itself, and an increasing awareness of other relevant factors such as how children learn, but secondary mathematics teachers have been so occupied with the new mathematical content demanded of them that other considerations have tended to be disregarded until very recently. The pressures that have increasingly been acting on secondary mathematics teachers have created confusion about the aims of the subject at the junior secondary level. Some teachers have retained the narrow academic aims of the past, while others have rejected these completely. Most, however, have reached a compromise. Five "innovative" and five "conservative" high schools in the Melbourne Metropolitan area were chosen subjectively by an informed panel. From each of these ten schools, two "junior level" and two "senior level" mathematics teachers were selected. Each of these forty teachers completed a Likert-type attitude questionnaire designed to establish their attitude towards narrow academic objectives at the junior secondary level. It was found that there was no significant difference in attitude between teachers of senior and junior levels, nor between teachers at conservative or innovative schools. There were, however, differences in attitude to the aims of junior secondary mathematics within each school of relatively large proportions. The lack of significant differences in attitude between schools indicates that they may be more alike than their reputation suggests, at least as far as mathematics education is concerned. Perhaps of greater concern is the effect on pupils of teachers with different attitudes towards their teaching. The fear that autonomy of schools has tended to become freedom for individual teachers to act alone in curriculum matters is reinforced by these results.
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ItemA comparative survey of the teaching of mathematics in primary schools in South Australia and Victoria( 1976)During the last two decades the teaching of mathematics in Australian primary schools has experienced widespread changes in content and method. These changes were introduced, mainly, in an attempt to overcome certain problems associated with the teaching of the subject. The views of psychologists and mathematicians influenced the new approaches to a greater extent than on any previous occasion. At the outset this thesis discusses some of the problems encountered in the teaching of mathematics and outlines three areas.requiring attention. An overview is given of the place of mathematics in the primary school curriculum in South Australia and Victoria since the middle of the nineteenth century. In tracing this development, an historical setting is given for the current controversies in the teaching of mathematics. A number of important changes in the teaching of mathematics emerge. In particular the changes which have occurred during the last twenty years are considered in some detail. An attempt is made to compare these recent developments and special attention is given to the period since the Australian conference on primary school mathematics in 1964, when a major restructuring of courses was proposed. Finally, it is shown that in attempting to overcome the problems associated with the teaching of mathematics, other factors have emerged which have implications for future developments. The current claim that the 3 R's have been neglected is likely to bring about a change in emphasis.