The historical formation of influential but the overlooked variable of mathematical attitude

Document Type : Review Paper

Authors

1 Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman

Abstract

For over half a century, the significance of the emotional domain in mathematics education has been acknowledged by researchers, yet the related research has not had much impact on educational policies. Most of these studies have focused on the structure of mathematical attitudes as a significant factor in learning, academic success, and other crucial components of mathematics education. However, various review studies indicate weak and sometimes contradictory results, often lacking actionable insights for changing the performance and methods of mathematics education practitioners. Researchers attribute this to the generally rushed efforts of leading researchers in this field to search for and determine causal relationships before establishing appropriate theoretical foundations. This article reviews research on mathematical attitudes, focusing on the evolution and formation of the emotional domain in mathematics education.

Keywords

Main Subjects


[1] L. Aiken, Attitudes toward mathematics, Review of Educational Research, 40 (1970) 551-596.
[2] L. Aiken, Update on Attitudes and other affective variables in learning mathematics, Review of Educational Re-search, 46 (1976) 293-311.
[3] A. Bishop, International perspectives on research in mathematics education, in Handbook of Research on Mathe-matics Teaching and Learning, D. A. Grouws, ed., Macmillan, New York, 1992, 710-723.
[4] P. Coppola, T. Di Martino, T. Pacelli, and C. Sabena, Primary teachers’ affect: A crucial variable in the teaching of mathematics, Nordic Studies in Mathematics Education, 17 (2012) 101-118.
[5] K. Daskalogianni and A. Simpson, Towards a definition of attitude: the relationship between the affective and the cognitive in pre-university students, inProceedings of the 24th Conference of the IGPME, T. Nakahara and M. Koyama, eds., 2000, 217-224.
[6] V. A. Debellis and G. A. Goldin, Aspects of affect: Mathematical intimacy, mathematical integrity, in Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference of PME, O. Zaslavsky, ed., 1999, 249-246.
[7] P. Di Martino and R. Zan, ‘Me and maths’: Towards a definition of attitude grounded on students’ narratives, Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 13 (2010) 27–48.
[8] P. Di Martino and R. Zan, The construct of attitude in mathematics education, in From Beliefs to Dynamic Affect Systems in Mathematics Education, B. Pepin and B. Roesken-Winter, eds., Springer, Switzerland, 2015, 51-72.
[9] P. Ernest, The attitudes and practices of student teachers of primary school mathematics, in Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the IGPME, A. Barbos, ed., 1988, 288-295.
[10] R. L. Feierabend, Review of research on psychological problems in mathematics education, Cooperative Research Monograph, 3 (1960) 3-46.
[11] E. Fennema and J. Sherman, Sex-related differences in mathematics achievement, spatial visualization and affective factors, American Educational Research Journal, 14 (1977) 51-71.
[12] E. Fennema, The study of affect and mathematics: A proposed generic model for research, in Affect and Math-ematical Problem Solving: A New Perspective, D. B McLeod and V. M. Adams, eds., Springer, New York, 1989, 205-219.
[13] E. Fennema and G. C. Leder, Mathematics and Gender, Teachers College Press, New York, 1990.
[14] G. A. Goldin, Affect, meta-affect, and mathematical belief structures, in Beliefs: A Hidden Variable in Mathematics
Education, G. C. Leder, E. Pehkonen, and G. Törner, eds., Kluwer, Dordercht, 2002, 59-72.
[15] J. Kilpatrick, A history of research in mathematics education, in Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching
and Learning, D. A. Grouws. ed., Macmillan, New York, 1992, 3–38.
[16] G. Kulm, Research on mathematics attitude, in Research in Mathematics Education, R. J. Shumway, ed., National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, 1980, 356-387.
[17] G. Leder, Measurment of attitude to mathematics, For the Learning of Mathematics, 5 (1985) 18-22.
[18] G. C. Leder, Attitudes towards mathematics, in The Monitoring of School Mathematics, Madison: Wisconsin Center of Education Reasearch, T. A. Romberg and D. M. Stewart, eds., 1987, 261-277.
[19] G. C. Leder and P. J. Grootenboer, Affect in mathematics education, Mathematics Education Research Journal, 17 (2005), 1-8.
[20] X. Ma and N. Kishor, Assessing the relationship between attitude toward mathematics and achievement in math-ematics: A meta-analysis, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 28 (1997) 65-88.
[21] X. Ma, A meta-analysis of the relationship between anxiety toward mathematics and achievement in mathematics, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 30 (1999) 520-540.
[22] G. Mandler, Helplessness: Theory and research in anxiety, in Anxiety; Current Trends in Theory and Research, C. D. Spielberger, ed., Acdemic Press, New York, 1972, 359-374.
[23] G. Mandler, Mind and Body: Psychology of Emotion and Stress, Norton, New York, 1984.
[24] G. Mandler, G. Affect and learning: Causes and consequences of emotional interactions, in Affect and Mathematical
Problem Solving: A New Perspective, D. B. McLeod and V. M. Adams, eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, 1989, 3-19.
[25] D. B. McLeod, Affective issues in research on teaching mathematical problem solving, in Teaching and Learning Mathematical Problem Solving: Multiple Research Perspectives, E. A. Silver, ed., Lawrence Erabaum, Hillsdale, 1985, 267-279.
[26] D. B. McLeod, Affective issues in mathematical problem solving some theoretical considerations, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 19 (1988) 134-141.
[27] D. B. McLeod and V. M. Adams, Affect and Mathematical Problem Solving:A New Perspective, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1989.
[28] D. B. McLeod, Research on affect in mathematics education: A reconceptualization, in Handbook of Research on
Mathematical Teaching and Learning, D. A. Grouws, ed., Macmillan, New York, 1992, 575-596.
[29] D. C. Neale, The role of attitudes in learning mathematics, Arithmetic Teacher, 16 (1969) 631-640.
[30] R. A. Philipp, Mathematics teachers’ beliefs and affect, in Second Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning, F. K. Lester, ed., Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, 2007, 257-315.
[31] D. A. Norman, Twelve issues for cognitive science, in Perspectives on Cognitive Science, D. A. Norman, ed., Ablex,
Norwood, 1980, 265-295.
[32] L. Reyes, Affective variables and mathematics education, The Elementary School Journal, 84 (1984) 558-581.
[33] M. Ruffel, J. Mason, and B. Allen, Studying attitude to mathematics, Educational Studies in Mathematics, 35 (1998) 1-18.
[34] A. H. Schoenfeld, Mathematical Problem Solving, Academic Press, Orlando, 1985.
[35] A. H. Schoenfeld, Exploration of students’ mathematical beliefs and behavior, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 20 (1989) 338-355.
[36] A. H. Schoenfeld, A discourse on methods, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 25 (1994) 697–710.
[37] A. H. Schoenfeld, Purposes and methods of research in mathematics education, Notices Amer. Math. Soc., 47 (2000) 641-649.
[38] A. Sierpinska, J. Kilpatrick, N. Balacheff, G. Howson, A. Sfard, and H. Steinbring, What is research in mathematics education, and what are its results? Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 24 (1993) 274-278.
[39] R. Skemp, Relational understanding and instrumental understanding, Mathematics Teaching, 77 (1976) 20–26.
Volume 5, Issue 4
December 2020
Pages 53-68
  • Receive Date: 08 April 2021
  • Revise Date: 12 August 2021
  • Accept Date: 21 August 2021
  • Publish Date: 19 February 2021