An analysis of the subject matter preparation of mathematics teachers in the high schools of Newfoundland and Labrador

• Main Author: Denty, Frederick Nelson
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1973
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7411/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7411/1/Denty_FrederickNelson.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/7411/3/Denty_FrederickNelson.pdf

The study was concerned with determining the current status of the preparation of senior high school mathematics teachers in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and utilizing the information obtained to formulate appropriate in-service measures for these teachers. -- Questionnaires were used to gather data on 335 teachers who were teaching at least one mathematics course in Grades X or XI during the fall term of the 1972-1973 school year. The questionnaires were used to gather information in three general areas: academic qualifications of teachers, interests and attitudes toward mathematics, and in-service activities. There were 271 useable questionnaires returned which represented a response rate of 80.9 per cent. -- The respondents were classified according to the enrollment of the school in which they taught and, depending on their mathematics course background, as Type A, Type B, or Type C teachers. Since most of the data involved either the nominal or ordinal scales of measurement, the chi-square test was used frequently in testing hypotheses throughout the study. -- It was found that 39 per cent of the teachers were Type A (teachers with more than 24 semester hours of coursework recommended by CUPM for Level III), 17 per cent were Type B teachers (13 to 24 semester hours), and 44 per cent were Type C teachers (less than 13 semester hours). Only 40 per cent of the respondents had earned a major in mathematics, and 42 teachers had not earned a single semester hour of coursework in mathematics. Reasonable strengths in course background were indicated in the areas of algebra and analysis while serious gaps were found in the areas of geometry, probability and statistics, and computer mathematics. The fact that 71 per cent of the teachers had earned no credit in geometry was very alarming since geometry was a course taught by most teachers. The above findings serve as an indication of the critical shortage of well prepared mathematics teachers at the high school level in this province. -- An analysis of ...