Exploring the value alignment between teachers and students in Malaysian secondary mathematics classrooms : a mixed methods study /

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Student Theses

2023

Chia, Hui Min

Thesis

This study aims to make the concept of value alignment more vivid by situating the study in the sociocultural context by integrating the activity theory and value perspectives. Teachers’ decision-making is associated with their values and teaching practices and is crucial in promoting students’ learning. Yet, limited research is conducted on how and why teachers make their decisions inside and outside the mathematics classroom.This study explored the value alignment between teachers and students in secondary mathematics classrooms, as reported by 53 teachers and 354 students from Malaysia. It also investigated in-depth the possible factors associated with the value alignment strategies applied by nine experienced teachers. The design of this study was an explanatory sequential mixed method. Due to the pandemic, this study was conducted online. Hence, teachers’ value alignment strategies in the interchange of physical and online teaching and learning modes were investigated. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis were used to analyse the data collected from the online questionnaires in Phase 1 and qualitative data in Phase 2.The findings from the Phase 1 study showed that teachers tended to place a higher priority on effort, application, and exploration in mathematics educational values. At the same time, students favoured recalling more than teachers. Such statistical differences were observed between the upper secondary teachers and students. Teachers and students co-valued objectism, openness and progress in mathematical values. They co-valued self-discipline and affect in the general educational values. However, varying teacher values reported in the quantitative data and the emergence of ICT in students’ responses led the further investigation into the Phase 2 study. From a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, four common value differences incidents emerged: a) exposition vs exploration, b) ICT vs marker pen-and-whiteboard, c) students’ engagement vs disengagement, and d) application vs computation. Five value alignment strategies—crafting, scaffolding, beacon, intervention, and complementing—were discovered in the study. Teachers’ personal values, student values, tools, curriculum goals, and examination were the five main factors that drove the teacher value alignment strategies.The results suggest that experienced teachers are aware of value differences incidents in their classroom. Their awareness leads to interpretation, decision-making, and reflection, which contribute to the quality of teaching practices. The results offer insight to researchers and educators to support teachers in adopting the new curriculum and discover ways to sustain innovation in mathematics teaching and learning

LG51.H43 Dr 2023eb Chiahm

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/kMJKjse7