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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This was especially the case for Teacher explanation and Individual work, and may be
because with these methods, pupils are given the same amount of time to perform tasks
but actually perform them at different individual speeds. Teachers may give individual
help to a different extent for each pupil in a class.

4.1.4: Descriptive statistics of the responses of 8^th graders

Enjoyment

Table 4.1.19 and Figure 4.1.16 below show that 8^th graders expressed neither
agreement nor disagreement (3<M<4) that Using a computer, Teacher explanation, and
Individual work promoted their enjoyment in learning mathematics. They disagreed
(2<M<3) that Practical work, Reading a textbook, Individual help, Whole-class discussion
and Group discussion promoted enjoyment. These differences were statistically
significant. A relatively wide distribution existed in the extent to which enjoyment was
perceived to be promoted by the different teaching methods. While 8^th graders did not
feel that any teaching method actually promoted enjoyment, those which were the least
negative were reported as frequently being deployed by the teachers: Teacher
explanation, Individual work and Individual help.

Table 4.1.19: Mean scores and Standard Deviation; enjoyment, perceptions of 8^th

graders

The result of a repeated measure ANOVA [F (8, 17208)=113.55, p<. 01]

Figure 4.1.16: Enjoyment promoted by different teaching methods; perceptions of 8^th
graders

I PW I UC I RT I TE I IW I IH I WD I GD~~∣

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