Fresko 1985 Teaching and Teacher Education

THE IMPACT OF INSERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION ON MATHEMATICS TEACHERS’ SUBJECT-MATTER CONFIDENCE AND COMPETENCY BARBARA FRESKO The Weizmann Institute and Beit Berl College, Israel DAVID BEN-CHAIM The Weizmann Institute and Haifa University-Oranim, Israel Abstract-Two inservice courses designed to strengthen teachers’ subject-matter competencies while introdu cing them to mathematics curricula for Grades 7 and 8 were investigated. In a pretest- posttest quasi-experimental design, participants were given a confidence measure and knowledge test. After the inservice training, teachers manifested greater self-confidence in knowledge of cur- ricular material, a corresponding increase in mathematics skills, and high levels of confidence in ability to teach the curriculum. Results suggest that when knowledge tests are not feasible, mea- surement of confidence in solving problems may be sufficient to evaluate the cognitive impact of an inservice program The rapid growth of scientific knowledge and technological complexity in the past 20 years has produced a rising demand from industry for workers at all levels who are wel l versed in the pure and applied scientific fields. The school system, in turn, has attempted to keep abreast of technological and scientific discoveries by updating curricula and increasing emphasis on the instructio n of mathematics and science. The expansion of scientific instruction and the incor- poration of new scientific ideas into school curricula take time; textbooks must be rewritten, new materials developed, modern laboratory equipment purchased, and teachers trained and retrained. Paradoxically, as the need for mathematics and science teachers in the schools has increased, the number of persons entering the teaching profes sion with specialization in these fields has declined (Howe & Gerlovitch, 1981; Williams, 1983). The competition in hiring from business and industry, where salaries are sub- stantially higher, is a principal cause of this decline. To fill the gap between the growing needs of the school system and the dimini shing cadre of qualified mathematics and science teachers , persons from other fields have been hired. Sometimes they have been recruited from other teaching specialities. Often they have been drawn from entirely different profes- sional backgrounds, and lack any formal training in teaching (Havighurst & Neugarten, 1967). The results in the area of mathematics are alarming. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 1980) predicts a wide- spread shor tage of qualified mathematics teachers in American schools during t he next decade. The Cockroft report (1982) depicts a similar future for Britain’s middle schools , claiming that 62 of the mathematics teachers in the British system today have no formal qual- All correspondence should be sent to Barbara Fresko or David Ben-Chaim at the Department of Science Teaching. The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

Fresko 1985 Teaching and Teacher Education

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