Lebanese middle school students' attitudes toward math as a subject & toward math teachers. (c2009)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between 71h 81h and 91h grade Lebanese students' attitudes toward mathematics as a subject matter and their attitudes toward their math teachers. Another purpose was to investigate teachers' perceptions of their students' attitudes toward math as a subject and toward their math teachers. The three instruments used are questionnaires distributed to students, interviews conducted with teachers and observations of classroom climate. The results showed that there is a strong and significant positive correlation between students' attitudes toward math as a subject and students' attitudes toward their math teachers. The study also revealed that there are no significant gender differences in either the students' attitudes toward math as a subject or toward their math teachers. Moreover, interviews with teachers showed that they perceived their students as having generally positive attitudes toward math as a subject and toward them as math teachers. Larger samples that include participants from all grade levels and from diverse schools are needed for generalizing the results on the national level.