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Regarding the first main question, teachers were asked whether they thought that
promoting pupils’ affective attitudes towards mathematics learning was important in their
mathematics classes. The investigation was conducted regarding each facet of attitudes
separately. The study started with the assumption that the promotion of pupils’ affective
attitudes is important, as described in Chapter 1. The first question examined whether
teachers taking part in this study supported this assumption as this would be important in
Interpreting the data. The question adopted was:
• Do you think that promoting pupils’ enjoyment in learning mathematics is important in
mathematics classes? Could you explain your response?
Teachers were asked about their perspectives regarding the importance of promotion of
each of the four facets, i.e. enjoyment, motivation, sense of security and sense of
progress, respectively. The second question explored the ways teachers assess pupils’
affective attitudes towards mathematics learning. The question asked:
• Can you assess whether pupils are enjoying learning mathematics in your classes?
How do you assess it?
Teachers were asked about these points regarding each individual facet of pupils’
enjoyment, motivation and sense of security. The question, which asked the teachers
about their definition of pupils’ feelings of progress was taken up, based on the pilot
study. This was because the teachers taking part in the pilot study thought that the
understanding of a sense of progress they expected their pupils to have would not be
the same as their own. The statements regarding pupils’ sense of progress were:
• When do you think your pupils develop a sense of progress?
• When do you suppose your pupils feel that their sense of progress is being
promoted?
Regarding the second main question, teachers were asked to what extent they adopted
each teaching method in their mathematics classes. The study explored eight teaching
methods; practical work, using computers, reading a textbook, teacher explanation,
individual teaching methods, and discussion. The questions adopted in the interview
were:
• Do you sometimes use practical activities?
Teachers were required to reflect their practices while examining the advantages and
disadvantages of each teaching method.
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