5th and 8th grade pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationships between teaching methods, classroom ethos, and positive affective attitudes towards learning mathematics in Japan

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Regarding the third question, teachers were asked whether they thought employing a
variety of teaching methods in mathematics classes was effective for promoting pupils’
affective attitudes towards mathematics learning. They were also asked to justify their
views. This question was designed to elucidate teachers’ perceptions of the main
themes taken up in the study, whether pupils’ affective attitudes towards mathematics
learning can be promoted through widening the range of teaching methods deployed in
mathematics classes. The question adopted was:

• Do you think that employing various kinds of teaching methods in mathematics
classes is effective in promoting pupils’ affective attitudes towards mathematics
I7earning? Please explain your answer.

3.5: The data collection

The sample in the questionnaire survey consisted of 48 5^th grade teachers and 1479 of
their pupils belonging to 28 elementary schools, and 42 8^th grade teachers and 2156 of
their pupils belonging to 19 junior high schools in Tokyo. The researcher sent a letter of
enquiry to the head teachers of all the state elementary and junior high schools located
in four wards of Tokyo, and the private junior high schools located in Tokyo and its
suburbs, in June 1999. In July and August 1999 they replied to the researcher to confirm
their willingness to take part in the survey. The main research was conducted, with all
the schools, which expressed their willingness to take part in the survey, from
September to November 1999. All the students in these schools, except those who were
absent from school on the research day, took part in the questionnaire survey. Almost all
of the teachers teaching these students took part in the questionnaire survey.
Afterwards, one third of the teachers taking part in the questionnaire survey took part in
the interviews, in December 1999. The number of participants interviewed was 31.

Participant schools were selected only on the basis of their location. There may have
been some bias because the teachers, who expressed their willingness for their pupils
and themselves to take part in the survey might have had a higher interest in promoting
pupils’ positive attitudes towards learning mathematics and adopting different teaching
methods in mathematics classes than other teachers. The generalisability of the findings
of this study might therefore be limited.

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