Authors : Effandi Zakaria and Norulpaziana Musiran
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the beliefs about the nature of Mathematics, Mathematics teaching and learning among teacher trainees. The sample is consisted of 100 teacher trainees from two higher institution of learning in Selangor, Malaysia. Research tool used is a Mathematical belief questionnaire which consists of three dimensions: beliefs about the nature of Mathematics, beliefs about teaching and beliefs about learning of Mathematics. Descriptive statistic was used to describe and summarize the data. In addition, t-test was used to test the hypothesis. The results indicate that the beliefs of Mathematics trainee teachers are positive towards the constructivism approach. Teacher trainees believe that mathematical problems can be solved in many ways. Teacher trainees also believe that teaching Mathematics should involve the opportunity to use Mathematics in daily situations and in learning Mathematics students need to understand the concepts, principles and strategies of Mathematics. Lastly, the findings also found that there were significant differences regarding the beliefs about the nature of Mathematics and beliefs about learning of Mathematics based on gender.
Effandi Zakaria and Norulpaziana Musiran, 2010. Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics, Mathematics Teaching and Learning Among Trainee Teachers. The Social Sciences, 5: 346-351.