Arbetsmetoder i gymnasiematematiken – Hur elevers personlighet kan användas för att skapa en stimulerande lärandemiljö i det naturvetenskapliga klassrummet

Abstract

As a teacher it can be considered justified to search for novel vantage points from which to view one’s own practice, in order to gain a better understanding of how students learn. The objective of this thesis is to define and compare two distinctive approaches to handling mathematical studies. These have been termed traditional and progressive. It is reasonable to believe that these practices occur in and are relevant to the mathematical work of today’s upper secondary schools. This theory is used to explore students’ conceptions of the existing practice in three separate classes. Also students’ attitudes towards these approaches are studied. Furthermore, an attempt is made at discerning whether or not these preferences can be related to the specific personality traits introversion and extroversion.

The studies have been restricted to only encompass students in the program of natural sciences, and are based on a variety of literature concerning personality traits and different approaches to teaching. Combined research methods in the form of a survey and follow up interviews were used to gain quantitative and qualitative insight into students’ attitudes and reasoning. The results indicate a slight preference for progressive teaching. More students appear to have predominantly extroverted tendencies, and there are less introverted than extroverted individuals in the sample group. A discrepancy was detected between introverted and extroverted students: introverts seemed to prefer a traditional approach inside the mathematical classroom, while the extroverted students’ modus operandi tended to align more with progressive practices. However, these preferences are small.

Lastly, the results and the theoretical background are used to conduct a discussion regarding the project’s relevance for teachers’ practice. Previous didactical research constitutes a general basis, which is then related to the specific results obtained through this study. Finally, a last associat