The purpose of this research is to investigate overall aspects of pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics, attitude towards mathematics of early childhood teachers, and the difference in it depending on teachers' personal background, and to analy...
The purpose of this research is to investigate overall aspects of pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics, attitude towards mathematics of early childhood teachers, and the difference in it depending on teachers' personal background, and to analyze the correlation between two. The research questions are as follows.
1. What is the state of pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics of early childhood teachers?
1-1. What is overall aspects of pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics of early childhood teachers?
1-2. Is there any difference in pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics of early childhood teachers depending on their personal background (educational background, teaching experience, certifications, the number of mathematics courses he/she has taken)?
2. What is the state of attitude towards mathematics of early childhood teachers?
2-1. What is general tendency of attitude towards mathematics of early childhood teachers?
2-2. Is there any difference in attitude towards mathematics of early childhood teachers depending on their personal background (educational background, teaching experience, certifications, the number of mathematics courses he/she has taken)?
3. What is the correlation between the pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics and the attitude towards mathematics of early childhood teachers?
This research is subject to 176 early childhood teachers working in 41 different kindergartens and child care centers in Seoul and Kyeong-gi. It utilizes the modified ‘Preschools Mathematics PCK Interview: PM-PCK Interview' that used in McCray and Chen (2012) to investigate the pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics of early childhood teachers. The questions for the attitude towards Mathematics are based on the ‘Revised Version of Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory: ATMI' that used in Smith (2000). The total data collected for this research are examined by calculating the mean and standard deviation, maximum and minimum values, and frequency and percentages, and then by performing t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis. For the cases showing significant differences, Scheffé posterior test is done after one-way ANOVA to figure out which groups have generated the differences.
The results are described as follows. First, early childhood teachers generally show low pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics, which changes a lot with teachers’ individual difference, mathematics content strands, and type of teaching scenarios. Also, educational background, certifications, and the number of mathematics courses he/she has taken have meaningful effects on teachers' pedagogical content knowledge level. Therefore, it becomes higher for the teachers with university degree or more, than with college level degree or less. Moreover, kindergarten teacher certification and experiences on mathematics courses can make better knowledge level. Teaching experiences, however, do not have significant effect.
Second, the attitude towards Mathematics is not high showing more than average only in value of Mathematics in society. Self-concept, enjoyment, motivation, and anxiety toward Mathematics rank in descending order. As in the first research, it also shows significant differences with educational background, certifications, and the number of mathematics courses he/she has taken. That means, the teachers with higher educational background understand value and motivation better, and the teachers with kindergarten teacher certification put higher value on mathematics. Also, the teachers who have taken more than two mathematics courses are revealed to have positive attitude towards self-concept, enjoyment, and motivation.
Last, as a result of analyzing the correlation between teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics and the attitude towards mathematics, the pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics is positively correlated with the value, enjoyment, motivation, and self-concept on mathematics, and is negatively correlated with the anxiety. Thus, teachers with higher level of pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics show favorable attitude on mathematics, and vice versa.