THE IMPACT OF AN INTEGRATED CONTENT/METHODS COURSE
ON PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS BELIEFS
Lynn C. Hart
Georgia State University
There is substantial evidence that teachers' beliefs about mathematics impact their teaching of mathematics. Given this, it seems imperative that teacher education programs assess their effectiveness, at least in part, on how well they nurture beliefs that are consistent with their philosophy of learning and teaching.
To explore this perspective a study was conducted with
a cohort of pre-service elementary teachers participating in an alternative
certification program that was grounded in a Standard’s based philosophy and used a model/experience/reflect framework. Within the program students
were required to take 6 hours of mathematics and 6 hours of mathematics
education. One faculty member taught the 12 hours as a seamless course over
three semesters. The mathematics was
taught in a manner that modeled
mathematics teaching that was consistent with our philosophy. The teachers experienced teaching in this manner in their field
experiences. Finally teachers reflected on each of the experiences to
encourage assimilation.
Before and after year-one in the program the students completed a 30-item Mathematics Belief Instrument (MBI). It was predicted that the teachers would change in a positive direction on all parts of the MBI. To test this hypothesis a t-test for paired samples was computed for each part. Using a one-tailed test, the difference between the responses at the beginning and at the end of the first year were significant for all three parts: Part A, t(13)=1.80, p<.05; Part B, t(13) = 4.40, p<.001; and Part C, t=1.79, p<.05. In addition, qualitative data in the form of weekly teaching logs were used to identify teacher behaviors that were consistent with the MBI. Results suggest that the program was successful in changing teacher beliefs and behaviors.