Mathematics Student Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics and the Goals of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in the Beginning of Their Studies

Antti Viholainen; Mervi Asikainen; Pekka E. Hirvonen

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a

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Antti Viholainen ¹ ^* , Mervi Asikainen ¹, Pekka E. Hirvonen ¹

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¹ University of Eastern Finland, Finland^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This article examines Finnish mathematics student teachers’ epistemological beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics and the goals of mathematics teaching and learning solely in the beginning of their studies at university. A total of 18 students participated in a study consisting of a short questionnaire and interviews. The data was analyzed by categorizing the views presented in terms of four mathematics-related orientations. According to the results, student teachers often regarded mathematics mainly as a static system, but their beliefs about the goals of mathematics teaching and learning consisted of features that derive from all of the four orientations. Future teachers’ beliefs can be affected by teacher education and hence the results are important for teacher educators to be recognized.

Keywords

beliefs
nature of mathematics
student teacher
teacher education

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 10, Issue 2, 2014, 159-171

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a

Publication date: 15 Jun 2017

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How to cite this article

APA

Viholainen, A., Asikainen, M., & Hirvonen, P. E. (2014). Mathematics Student Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics and the Goals of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in the Beginning of Their Studies. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 10(2), 159-171. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a

Vancouver

Viholainen A, Asikainen M, Hirvonen PE. Mathematics Student Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics and the Goals of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in the Beginning of Their Studies. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2014;10(2):159-71. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a

AMA

Viholainen A, Asikainen M, Hirvonen PE. Mathematics Student Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics and the Goals of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in the Beginning of Their Studies. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2014;10(2), 159-171. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a

Chicago

Viholainen, Antti, Mervi Asikainen, and Pekka E. Hirvonen. "Mathematics Student Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics and the Goals of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in the Beginning of Their Studies". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2014 10 no. 2 (2014): 159-171. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a

Harvard

Viholainen, A., Asikainen, M., and Hirvonen, P. E. (2014). Mathematics Student Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics and the Goals of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in the Beginning of Their Studies. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 10(2), pp. 159-171. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a

MLA

Viholainen, Antti et al. "Mathematics Student Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs about the Nature of Mathematics and the Goals of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in the Beginning of Their Studies". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 10, no. 2, 2014, pp. 159-171. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a