The role of personal teaching efficacy and perceived usefulness as determinants of reform-based practices among instructors of developmental mathematics

Research has generally demonstrated that students enrolled in developmental mathematics courses are leaving these courses without achieving conceptual understanding and transferrable knowledge and skills. Such outcomes have challenged educators to incorporate instructional strategies that have the most significant effect on the success of students in developmental education courses, in particular reform-based practices for the teaching of developmental mathematics courses based on constructivism. However, there is little or no empirical information on which of these instructional strategies and designs are being used (and by whom), as well as on the frequency of use, perceived value or importance to learning, and instructors' beliefs in their ability to use these best practices.;This cross-sectional study was intended to fill this gap by examining the role of personal teaching efficacy and perceived usefulness in determining the use of reform-based practices by instructors teaching developmental mathematics at the postsecondary level. Data was collected from 160 developmental or remedial mathematics instructors at two- and four-year regionally accredited postsecondary institutions in the United States who responded to a Web-based survey. Multiple statistical methods were applied to analyze the data, including correlation and multiple regression analyses.;Findings indicated that personal teaching efficacy and perceived usefulness each has a significant positive correlation with the use of reform-based practices, with personal teaching efficacy having the stronger correlation. In addition, only personal teaching efficacy was statistically significant for the regression model. These findings suggest that activities to support the use of reform-based practices include ways to increase instructors' beliefs in their ability to use reform-based practices. Directions for future research should continue to focus on instructors' beliefs and attitudes toward the use of reform-based practices as a means for improving developmental mathematics instruction.