Skip to main content

Improving Mathematics: Surveying Students Attitudes




Our Action research has been progressing this year despite the many interruptions this year has provided. Online learning proved to be a challenge but has provided many learning opportunities for our learning community.

I have become a data nerd this year and this seemed the perfect opportunity to dig a little deeper into understanding how data helps to understand my students. I recently asked my students to complete this data survey so that I can present the results to our staff in the next few weeks.

The survey was one that I have adapted from Teacher's Pay Teachers. It had some good questions for students about their general attitudes to Mathematics. I added questions about how game-based learning and how they feel that games help them to learn Math concepts and develop their skills.

The survey has helped to understand how my students feel about Mathematics and particularly using games in the classroom. I found it encouraging that most found that games had a beneficial effect on their learning. 

It was encouraging to see that most of their attitudes to Mathematics were positive and that they found it engaging. The other key takeaways from the survey were:

  • that they feel that there is more than one way to solve problems
  • they can make mistakes in  order to learn
  • the students need explicit teaching to help them learn. 
  • it bothers them when they get the wrong answer
  • they like to figure things out on their own
  • They can learn from others
  • using hands-on materials helps them learn better. 
It was such a valuable survey and feel that this has informed the next part of the year to try some different strategies out for teaching mathematics. I will follow this survey up at the end of the year with a reflection about how they have gone with Mathematics throughout this year to see if the results have improved or have remained consistent. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Organised

In the past year I have found that I have been moving towards a more paper free way of of working, relying more on the files on my laptop and iPad. The main reason is very practical: I lose pieces of paper. I put down the page that I need to use and its not to be found again until 6 months later under the cupboard next to the broken pens and old rubber, gathering dust. My intention is to be completely organised but reality dictates the success of this at times: I can be frustratingly disorganised. Putting that aside, its time to start again! With the new year having started, comes a sense of new possibilities and fresh starts. It is also a time to consider the plans for the coming year: What will I do? Where will I head to? What worked well? My goal for this year is to be more organised regarding my program, lesson plans and student files. It has been a  bit haphazard up until now. Evernote  is an online file system, where documents, notes, pictures, sound files can be r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Making Homework a positive experience: Homeworkopoly

Homework is an area that has often been a part of education that is often the hardest to get right. Many parents expect homework and insist that their child does it. There are other parents who believe in Homework but have no time to give to it, because of work commitments or other priorities. There is also a small minority of parents who feel that Homework should not be given at all. Even amongst educators, it can be a divisive topic. Our school has a homework policy, that while we give homework, it is not compulsory for it to be completed. It serves to support the learning happening in the classroom, but no pressure is applied to have it completed.  My belief is that homework serves the purpose of developing healthy study habits and supporting those families who want homework for the child. For some parents though, it can be a source of tension when a child struggles with a task.  How to make it a positive experience? I came across this idea a few years...
Post a Comment
Read more