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Re: Looking for mathematics attitudes/beliefs instrument - OOPS!



OOPS! My computer thought it was back in 1904 when it sent the last
post. (I am, as usual, blameless.) Here is a repost with the correct
date. Please simply DELETE the earlier post - if you can find it.

Please excuse this post's:

(a) CROSS POLLINATING of discussion lists with archives at:

AERA-D (Measurement and Research Methodology)
<http://lists.asu.edu/archives/aera-d.html>,
Math-Learn <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/math-learn/>,
Math-Teach <http://mathforum.org/epigone/math-teach>,
PhysLrnR <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/physlrnr.html>,
Phys-L <http://lists.nau.edu/archives/phys-l.html>,
Physhare <http://lists.psu.edu/archives/physhare.html>.

(b) LENGTH - If you respond please DO NOT HIT THE REPLY BUTTON and
thereby inflict it yet again on suffering subscribers of the above
lists.

In his AERA-D post of 23 Oct 2002 11:18:05-0700 titled "Looking for
mathematics attitudes/beliefs instrument," Steve Kramer wrote:

KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER
I'm looking for an instrument to compare the attitudes/beliefs of two
groups of average-ability high school students: one group randomly
assigned to a sequence of Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and the
other group randomly assigned to use Core Plus. . .
<http://www.wmich.edu/cpmp/>. . . mathematics for grades 9, 10, and
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I know that attitudes/beliefs are supposed to affect students in two
ways: persistence in continuing to study mathematics as they get
older, and success in mathematics that they do study. An example
would be literature I read years ago indicating that students who
attribute success to "effort" rather than to "ability" tend to better
at learning math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .

I'd like to use an instrument . . . . which has been shown to predict
persistence and/or long term achievement in studying mathematics.
Does anyone have an instrument to recommend?"
KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER-KRAMER

As discussed in Hake (2002a - see that online article for the references):

HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE
The Arizona State University "Views About Sciences Survey" (VASS)
(Halloun & Hestenes 1998, Halloun 1997) is available - but password
protected for physics, chemistry, biology, and MATHEMATICS at
<http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html> (scroll to the bottom).

For PHYSICS, VASS indicates that students have views that:

(a) often diverge from physicists' views;

(b) can be grouped into four distinct profiles: expert, high,
transitional, low transitional, and folk;

(c) are similar in college and high school; and

(d) CORRELATE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH NORMALIZED GAIN g ON THE FCI.
.(Force Concept Inventory).

It may well be that students' attitudes and understanding of science
and education are irreversibly imprinted in the early years [but see
Elby (2001)]. If so, corrective measures await a badly needed shift
of K-12 education away from rote memorization and drill (often
encouraged by state-mandated standardized tests) to the enhancement
of understanding and critical thinking (Hake 2000c,d; Mahajan & Hake
2000; Benezet 1935/36) - see Lesson 10.
HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE-HAKE

Another test of student attitudes and beliefs about mathematics is
Crawford et al.'s (1998) "University mathematics students'
conceptions of mathematics" (COM), as recently mentioned by Paul
Ginns in his AERA-D post of 24 Oct 2002 08:55:17+1000: "The 18 item
scale differentiates between fragmented conceptions of mathematics
(centered on reproduction of knowledge) and cohesive conceptions
(where students take a more global, personal and constructive
perspective of maths knowledge."

As far as I know, neither VASS nor COM has been shown to "predict
persistence and/or long term achievement in studying mathematics." A
problem in research on the predictive power of VASS or COM (or any
other test of students' beliefs or attitudes regarding mathematics)
is that generally recognized math tests of achievement or conceptual
understanding with the validity and general reliability of the
physics FCI have evidently not been developed, with the possible
exception of Jerry Epstein's (1997-98, 1999) "Basic Skills Diagnostic
Test" (BSDT).

Jerry has written to me: "The results are certain to be a major shock
to almost all but those who actually work in the trenches. . . one of
the revelations is the large number of teachers, especially in the
elementary and middle schools, who score no better than the students
they are teaching. There is a report on the results to date, which,
along with the test, can be obtained from me for agreement to some
non-disclosure conditions. Please contact me for more information."

For a listing of the physics tests of cognitive and affective impact
see NCSU (2002). More recently such tests are starting to be
developed in engineering education (Wage & Jones 2002). For
suggestions on the administration and reporting of pre/post test
results see Hake (2002b,c). For a review of mathematics education
research resources see Hake (2001).

More information on mathematics tests and assessments might be available in
the NRC volumes due to Kilpatrick et al. (2001) and Pellegrino et al.
(2001), but they are oriented towards K-12 and I have not had time to
review them.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>


REFERENCES
Alkhateeb, H.M. .2001. "University students' conceptions of first-year
mathemtics." Psychological Reports, 89, 41-47. Replicates the factor
scales of Crawford et al. (1998).

Crawford, K., S. Gordon, J. Nicholas, & M. Prosser, 1998. "University
mathematics students' conceptions of mathematics," Studies in Higher
Education, 23, 87-94. See also Alkhateeb (2001).

Epstein, J. 1997-98. "Cognitive development in an integrated
mathematics and science program." J. of College Science Teaching
12/97 & 1/98:194-201.

Epstein, J. 1999. "What is the real level of our students?" unpublished.

Hake, R.R. 2001. "The math education research community (LONG!!)",
PhysLrnR post of 3 Dec 2001 14:02:08-0800; online at
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0112&L=physlrnr&P=R2&X=1B3BCF4A31904F9D20&Y=rrhake@earthlink.net>.
[PhysLrnR in virtually unique among discussion lists in blocking
cross-pollination by denying non-subscribers access to its archives
(purportedly to protect its subscribers from SPAM). But as far as I
know ANYONE - even a mathematician! - can subscribe to PhysLrnR by
taking a few minutes to follow the simple directions at "Join or
leave the list (or change settings)" at
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/physlrnr.html>. Those who do
not wish to overload their mailboxes with PhysLrnR mail, may
subscribe with the NOMAIL option - one receives NO MAIL from PhysLrnR
but, as a subscriber, can review posts at the archives and post when
the spirit moves.]"

Hake, R.R. 2002a. "Lessons from the physics education reform effort."
Conservation Ecology 5(2): 28; online at
<http://www.consecol.org/vol5/iss2/art28>. "Conservation Ecology," is
a FREE "peer-reviewed journal of integrative science and fundamental
policy research" with about 11,000 subscribers in about 108 countries.

Hake, R.R. 2002b. "Suggestions for Administering and Reporting
Pre/Post Diagnostic Tests", unpublished; online as ref. 14 at
<http://physics.indiana.edu/~hake/>.

Hake, R.R. 2002c. "Issues Related to Quantitative Methods and Data
Analysis in Physics Education Research: Part I - A Primer for
Pre/Post Testers," Invited Breakout Session Presentation, Physics
Education Research Conference; Boise, Idaho; August 2002; soon to be
online as ref. 23 at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>.

Kilpatrick, J., J. Swafford, and B. Findell, eds. 2001. "Adding It
Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics." National Academy Press,
online at <http://www.nap.edu/books/0309069955/html/index.html>.
After a review on pages 33-36 of the various standards documents
[National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) 1989, 1991, 1995,
2000 (the last called "Principles and Standards for School
Mathematics - PSSM) the committee concludes ". . . we see the efforts
made since 1989 to develop standards for teaching and learning
mathematics as worthwhile . . . . Nonetheless, the fragmentation of
these standards, their multiple sources, and the limited conceptual
frameworks on which they rest have not resulted in a coherent,
well-articulated, widely accepted set of learning goals for U.S.
school mathematics that would detail what students at each grade
should know and be able to do. PART OF THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT IS
TO PRESENT A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOL MATHEMATICS THAT COULD
BE USED TO MOVE THE GOAL-SETTING PROCESS FORWARD." (My CAPS.)

NCSU. 2002. "Assessment Instrument Information Page, Physics
Education R & D Group, North Carolina State University"; online at
<http://www.ncsu.edu/per/TestInfo.html>.

Pelligrino, J.W., N. Chudowsky, R. Glaser, eds. 2001. "Knowing What
Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment"
National Academy Press; online at
<http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10019.html>.

Wage, K.E & J.R. Buck. 2002. "Signals and Systems Concept Inventory
(SSCI) <http://ece.gmu.edu/~kwage/research/ssci/>. At that website
click on the Foundation Coalition <http://foundationcoalition.org/>
with a link to "Concept Inventories" at
<http://foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/concept/index.html>.

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.