Assessing the attitudes of pre-service primary mathematics teachers towards statistics and gender influence

Abstract

The aim of this research is to assess the attitudes exhibited by pre-service primary mathematics educators towards statistics, while concurrently investigating the influence of gender on these attitudes. The research methodology employed in this study involved the adaptation of the Survey of Attitudes toward Statistics (SATS-36) to pre-service teachers from Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) in Rwanda. The study participants are 355 pre-service teachers from7 randomly selected TTCs. Since the Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was undertaken to ascertain the model fit yielded suboptimal indices concerning both the reliability and validity of the data, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted, leading to the validation of a novel model comprising 25 items distributed across four distinct factors. The subsequent phase of the investigation involved the evaluation of pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards statistics, with a specific emphasis on discerning the impact of gender using the refined four-factor model. The findings of the study provide empirical evidence indicating that pre-service teachers tend to exhibit positive attitudes towards statistics, while concurrently highlighting the statistically significant influence of gender on these attitudes. In light of these outcomes, the researchers proffer recommendations suggesting that educators should prioritize efforts aimed at cultivating favorable attitudes towards statistics among pre-service teachers, thereby fostering an enriched and more productive learning milieu for students.

Keywords:

• Statistics education
• attitudes
• pre-service teachers
• TTC

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Colby Tofel-Grehl, School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA

SUBJECTS:

• Mathematics Education
• Secondary Education
• Teacher Training

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figure 1. Plot of eigenvalues from exploratory factor analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jean Claude Dushimimana

Jean Claude Dushimimana is an Assistant Lecturer and a PhD student at the University of Rwanda-College of Education. He is an associate member of African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) based at the UR-CE. He has participated into different international conferences and published different articles. His research interest is statistics education especially the impact of technology integration in teaching and learning of statistics.

Amina Urwibutso

Amina Urwibutse is a passionate educator and researcher dedicated to advancing innovative teaching and learning methodologies. She has a master of Education (Med) in mathematics education obtained from the university of Rwanda-college of Education (URCE). Currently, Urwibutso is serving as a part-time lecturer of Mathematics at the URCE. Her research interest is the integration of ICT in teaching and learning of mathematics at secondary school level.

Alphonse Uworwabayeho

Alphonse Uworwabayeho is a professor of mathematics education at the University of Rwanda-College of Education (UR-CE). Currently, he is commissioner on mathematics education for the African Mathematics Union (AMU) and member of Rwanda Mathematics Union. His research interest lies in Mathematics teacher professional development on enhancing active learning.