| The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a reform-oriented mathematics teaching methods course on pre-service elementary teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching mathematics and the degree to which their beliefs about school mathematics align with reform-oriented mathematics teaching. There was also an emphasis on the relationship between teacher efficacy and beliefs about reform-oriented mathematics teaching. The theoretical framework of this study was Bandura's sociocognitive theory of self-efficacy. To study the research questions, both quantitative and qualitative data were used. The quantitative phase of the study involved a one-group pretest-posttest design involving the Pre-service Teachers' Beliefs about Teaching Mathematics Survey (BTMS). BTMS included three sub-scales, which were Personal Teaching Efficacy (PTE), General Teaching Efficacy (GTE), and Beliefs about Teaching Reform Oriented Mathematics (BATM). Qualitative data were collected through interviews. The subjects of the study were 140 pre-service elementary teachers enrolled in the mathematics teaching methods class, 7 of whom participated in the interviews. The data indicated that the pre-service elementary teachers who completed the methods course had stronger commitments in reform-oriented mathematics and had an improved view of their effectiveness in teaching mathematics. Field experience; perceived mathematics performance; reform-oriented mathematics that is viewed as more "fun," "enjoyable," and "understandable," by the participants, and having seen examples of reform-oriented mathematics teaching influenced participants' mathematics teaching efficacy during the course. Mathematics teaching efficacy was related to the beliefs about teaching mathematics only after pre-service elementary teachers completed the methods course. |
