The objectives of the matriculation mathematics program in Newfoundland and Labrador, as perceived by secondary and post-secondary mathematics educators

Rose, Robert (1982) The objectives of the matriculation mathematics program in Newfoundland and Labrador, as perceived by secondary and post-secondary mathematics educators. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The study was undertaken to investigate the perceptions of three groups of educators with respect to the relative importance of 18 objectives for the secondary school matriculation mathematics program in Newfoundland and Labrador. The three groups of educators were the instructors of first year mathematics at Memorial University, the instructors of mathematics at trade and vocational schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the teachers of matriculation mathematics at schools in Newfoundland and Labrador. -- Attempts were made to ascertain if any differences existed among the three groups of educators in their perception of the relative importance of the objectives. It was also sought to determine if there were differences in the ranking of the objectives between those secondary school teachers who had completed a minimum of 10 university mathematics credits and those who had completed fewer than 10 such credits. Finally, a comparison was made between the rankings of the post-secondary instructors and those of similar groups of instructors in a study by Mercer (1975). -- A questionnaire was developed comprising pair-wise comparisons of the objectives. Individual and test-retest reliability checks resulted in acceptable levels of consistency. -- From the data analysis it was concluded that there was a wide difference in opinion among the respondents, both within and between the three groups studied. Of the three groups, there was most agreement within the university group, and least within the group of matriculation mathematics teachers. Significant differences at the 0.05 level were found between the preference score correlations of the two post-secondary instructors, and also between those of the trade school group and the secondary school group. In general, the secondary school group exhibited a position “between” the two post-secondary groups in their perceptions of the objectives. No difference was found between the secondary school teachers who had completed 10 university mathematics credits and those who had completed few than 10 such credits, as to their perceptions of the objectives. Finally, general agreement was observed between the rankings of the post-secondary groups and those of the corresponding groups in Mercer’s 1975 study. -- Based on these results, recommendations concerning the involvement of the three groups in the curriculum development process were made. Also it was recommended that teachers take care in considering the needs of all types of students in their classes.

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