Prospective Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs about the Teaching of Mathematics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective mathematics teachers’ beliefs about the teaching of mathematics. The research was conducted on 79 fourth year students enrolled at the Mathematics Teacher Education programs at Middle East Technical University and Gazi University. A ‘Beliefs about the Teaching of Mathematics Scale’ was developed by the researchers. The design of the present study is that of a cross-sectional survey. The results of the study indicate that: 1. there is a statistically significant difference between tire mean scores of prospective mathematics teachers at METU and those at Gazi University in terms of beliefs about the teaching of mathematics, and 2. Trere is no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of males and females in terms of beliefs about the teaching of mathematics.