An Investigation of Teachers’ Attitude to the Use of Instructional Materials in Mathematics Teaching

Abstract

This study investigated teachers’ attitude to the use of instructional materials in Mathematics teaching. 150 teachers of Mathematics participated in the study. The four research questions raised to guide the study examined the variables: Qualification, subject area of specialization and sex of the teachers as they relate to the teachers’ attitude to the use of instructional materials in Mathematics teaching. A questionnaire for Mathematics teachers was the instrument used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed with the statistical tools: Z-test of sample proportion, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference (HSD). Analysis of data revealed that majority of the teachers had positive attitude to the use of instructional materials, the qualification and sex of the teachers are not related to the teacher’s attitude, where as the teachers subject area of specialization significantly relates to the teachers’ attitude to the use of instructional materials in Mathematics teaching. The study recommends with emphasis that Mathematics should be taught only by teachers trained in the teaching of Mathematics and that emphasis should be laid on the need and practice of using instructional materials in Mathematics teaching in the pre-service training of Mathematics teachers.

Keywords: Mathematics, Teaching, Teacher, Training, Attitude, Instructiona