EFFECTS OF REFLECTIVE NOTEBOOKS ON PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING AND MATHEMATICS ANXIETY

ABSTRACT:

In this inquiry twenty-eight prospective teachers enrolled in a mathematics course participated in regular writing activities in reflective notebooks. Students' writings and data assembleed from interviews and surveys were used to analyze the issues of the notebooks on students' perceptions of their learning and mathematics anxiety. scholars appeared to develop new ways of thinking about mathematics, to realize their contributions to the learning community, and to begin to evaluate themselves more effectively.

KEYWORDS: Mathematics education, teacher education, journals, writing.

INTRODUCTION

In its Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for seminary Mathematics, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) powerfully supports the use of writing in the mathematics classroom, explaining that "writing about mathematics helps students clarify their thinking and evolve deeper understanding" [7, p. 26] and "opportunities to explain, guess and defend one's ideas in writing can stimulate deeper understandings of conceptions and principles" (p.78). However, reflection upon and writing about mathematics arise quite rarely at the community level of study [7], plane in courses designed for pre-service teachers. in what way are future teachers expected to utilize writing in the mathematics classroom without having been expos to its benefits themselves? And what are those benefits?

WRITING IN THE MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM

Writing and its usefulness in mathematics have been below discussion for decades. Some educators and researchers support the use of writing because it "forces deeper deliberations and reflections ...than could be awaited with only class discussion"[1]. Furthermore, writing in a specific satisfied area requires students to "analyze, compare facts, and synthesize relevant material" [2] The benefits of writing in mathematics reach forth beyond the heightened levels of cognition, however. learners may also express their anxieties and describe the question s they encounter [6]. They may find as well that their reflections about "the class, ... about what they are learning, and level about themselves as learners" are important to the teacher [5]

Research clearly demonstrates that writing is an effective classroom tool, providing "an active engaging and personal act which provides a unique form of feedback and reinforcement" [3 p 11] That feedback is not single provided to the student, who is able to use writing to analyze, compare, and synthesize material [2] on the contrary also to the teacher, who discovers information about students' understanding in their journals [34] Remarkably, although teachers insist that writing improves their students' learning, research has been unable to quantifiably evidence its effects on learning [3] As single article reports, "We don't know to date of any studies which prove conclusively that writing improved learning - we are 'sure' that it does, on the other hand we're not sure it's been proven" [9 p 138] Researchers recommend repeatedly that more investigations should research the process to identify the non-quantifiable benefits of writing in mathematics [3 8] This article describes single such study, considering the results of using reflective notebooks upon students' perceptions of their have learning.

DESCRIPTION OF STUDY

In this inquiry the use of reflective notebooks in a mathematics course for subsequent time elementary teachers was explored. learners maintained their own reflective notebooks, a mixture of journal-writing, record-keeping, and diary-style noting of thinkings The class consisted of 24 pupils 4 male and 20 female, of whom the majority were in the first sum of two units years of college level close attention The course was Math 201 configuration of the Number System.

The course

Math 201 conformation of the Number System, is a mathematics course intended to proper the needs of pre-service elementary teachers. learners complete a study of mathematics topics of that kind as set theory, whole number and rational number operations, number theory, and proportional reasoning. Instruction generally uses the introduction of a moot point followed by a brief discourse and discovery of knowledge. pupils then work in groups to find a solution to the puzzle These problems include mathematically-rich exercises that require scholars to work for several days to approach a solution. They generate discussion, the pair in small groups and whole assemblage as students share their possess methods and critique those of their classmates. pupils develop a regular mode of discussion and evaluation of strategies for question solving and are usually awaited to find a solution without explicit guidance from the instructor. Students' inquiry is supported by the use of a textbook generally Bassarear's Mathematics for Elementary Teachers.

The students

The twenty-eight scholars enrolled in this course were predominantly pre-service elementary teachers, although individual student identified himself as a time to come high school math teacher. Of the 24 pupils who completed survey information, 6 identified themselves as freshman, 5 as sophomores, 11 as juniors, and 1 as a senior. There were four male learners in the class, and 24 female scholars Two of the female learners were non-traditional students.