Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Noel Gray

Committee Member

Sandra Trotman

Keywords

Mathematics, secondary school teacher mindset, teacher self-efficacy, conceptual understanding

Abstract

This dissertation was designed to provide current knowledge on the mindset of secondary school mathematics teachers regarding the use of Conceptual Understanding (CU) as an approach to teaching the subject. It is well-documented that when students learn to engage in mathematical conceptual explanations in meaningful ways, they improve their learning. However, reports have shown that students in secondary schools lack effective skills in explaining and applying CU for successful problem-solving. As a result, teachers struggle with methods of instruction that can effectively improve the level of CU with their students in mathematics.

For this study, the researcher used a qualitative approach to determine the mindset of secondary school mathematics teachers on teaching the subject with CU. The teachers engaged in audio-recorded, one-on-one interviews with the researcher. The interviews were driven by 5 questions designed to engage them in discussions to ascertain their views on incorporating CU in mathematics instruction. Each participant was presented with a summary of their responses in the form of a transcript for them to validate.

An analysis of the data was carried out using the 6-phase thematic method developed by Braun and Clarke (2006). The six phases are: (a) familiarization with the data, (b) generating initial coding; (c) generating themes, (d) reviewing the themes; (e) defining and naming themes; and finally (f) writing up the themes. The 6-phased process was repeated until appropriate themes were identified to address the research questions and consequently the purpose of the study.

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