Perceptions and Attitudes of Student Teachers and Their Cognitive-Metacognitive Awareness in Mathematics in Colleges of Education in Zambia

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish perceptions and attitudes of student teachers and their cognitive-metacognitive awareness in mathematics in colleges of education in Zambia. Although there has been abundant research into perceptions, attitudes and cognitive-metacognitive awareness in teacher education, relatively little research has focused on student teachers’ perceptions and attitudes and their cognitive-metacognitive awareness in Zambia. Perception is a cognitive process through which individuals view, interpret, and understand their surroundings and environment and includes impressions formed about objects, events, and people. Attitude towards mathematics denotes interest or feeling towards studying mathematics. Metacognition is intertwined with cognition and affect. Metacognition is “thinking about thinking” or cognition about cognition. The key findings indicated that student teachers had moderately high metacognitive awareness levels in both colleges. According to the results of the analysis, there was not a significant difference among the scores of metacognitive awareness of student teachers 14(F=0.522; 蟻=0.491>0.05)">  according to means. We accept the null hypothesis that the means in the two colleges of education do not vary since . Results indicated that student teachers in both colleges of education had higher levels of their perceptions and attitudes towards mathematics. Further, results from the Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) indicated that student teachers perception of their performance is attributed to lecturers’ methods of teaching and lecturers’ attitudes towards them. Results from the focus group with all the years of study indicated that lecturers teach them procedures of solving problem without student teachers’ participation. The results showed that lecturers teach the ‘how’ approach of solving mathematical problems without the ‘when’ and ‘why’ processes of solving problems.  Therefore, this study recommends that teacher training programmes should include activities through the development and support of metacognitive awareness and affective factors that will be helpful in terms of professional and personal development for mathematics teacher trainees.

Key words: Attitudes, Perceptions, Cognition, Metacognition and Volition, self-efficacy.