Abstract

MONTEIRO, Sara Andreia Ali  and  RODRIGUES, Margarida Amaro Teixeira. Students' attitudes towards mathematics: a study in two classes of 6th grade. Invest. Práticas [online]. 2020, vol.10, n.1, pp.118-140. ISSN 2182-1372.  https://doi.org/10.25757/invep.v10i1.189.

This article will focus on a study carried out during 2017/2018 academic year, within the scope of the “Supervised Teaching Practice II” of the Master in Teaching in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education and Maths and Science in the 2nd Cycle of Basic Education. This study aimed to know the attitudes of students in a 6th grade class of basic education towards mathematics before and after the intervention period, in order to compare them and to understand which aspects of the interventional practice may have influenced possible changes in attitudes. To this end, a quantitative methodology was chosen and, as a method of data collection, questionnaires were applied, with closed and open items, before and after the intervention period, as well as interviews with students that most showed differences between these two periods. Although there was no significant difference in the students' attitudes towards the discipline, in general terms the group has evolved with respect to this domain. The results, in addition to showing that students feel more supported when there are more teachers present in the classroom, also show that the type of activities that were developed during the intervention period - exploratory activities using manipulable materials - constitutes extra motivation for students to get involved in mathematical work in the classroom.

Keywords : Attitude towards Mathematics; Emotional Disposition; Perception of Competence; View of Mathematics; Exploratory Activities.

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