The purpose of this study was to investigate the
effect of teachers' behaviors and characteristics upon the
development of student mathematical critical thinking
skills. From a pool of 20 teachers, whose students had
been pre- and post-tested for a measure of critical thinking
skills, 10 middle level teachers were selected to
complete extensive questionnaires on their backgrounds and
experiences, submit videotaped records of classroom activity,
and to maintain detailed data on their classroom actions.
The teachers were ranked in accordance with their
respective classes' mean gain scores on the assessment
tool.
From the pool of 20 teachers, the top-ranked 25% (five
teachers) and the bottom-ranked 25% (five teachers) were
selected for the study. Extremes of the ranking order were
used to increase the probability of determining potential
differences in teacher behaviors and characteristics between
the two groups. The two extremes were thus placed in
two groups to identify those variables which contributed to
differences between the groups.
Identified variables from pairwise comparisons of the
teachers within each group were analyzed, following corroboration
from a minimum of three data sources, to generate
groups profiles. A 5 x 5 matrix was constructed for each
potential group variable. Comparisons were conducted
between all pairs of teachers within each group, and the
differences between the two groups were compiled in the
form of group profiles.
The five top-ranked teachers, based upon student
performances, were distinguished from the lowest-ranked
five teachers by greater use of small group instruction,
math manipulatives, and warmup activities; as well as by
provision for teaching higher-order thinking skills, frequency
of transitions between classroom activities, and the
use of activities which required the application of concepts.
The lowest-ranked teachers were characterized by
the greater frequency of teacher-directed instruction, a
higher amount of computer usage, assignment of individual
student work, highly structured classes, and extensive
reliance on textbooks as the primary source of instructional
materials. / Graduation date: 1993
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/36873 |
| Date | 11 December 1992 |
| Creators | Cave, Linda M. |
| Contributors | Niess, Margaret L. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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