Teaching Styles in the Teaching of Mathematics Thematically

 
METHODOLOGY 
The study combined both quantitative and qualitatively research techniques. A blending 
of techniques is recommended on studies about teachers’ instructional behaviour because 
there is a need to elicit a broad range of teachers’ responses and to secure triangulation of 
data. 
 
Questionnaire Component of the Study 
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A questionnaire was designed in consultation with teachers, policy makers, textbook 
writers and senior academics in mathematics education. The purpose of the questionnaire 
was to identify teachers’ level of engagement with each of the three teaching styles 
depicted in the literature and described earlier in this paper. These teaching styles were 
presented via different teaching scenarios and were represented by the hypothetical 
teachers, Robin, Ashley and Lee. Participants were asked to indicate to what degree the 
scenarios resembled their own teaching styles when teaching mathematics thematically. 
Seven choices of response for each of the three scenarios were presented on a Likert-type 
scale varying in their degree and agreement to the item. The minimum score was 1 and 
the maximum score was 7 (Handal, Bobis, & Grimison, 2001). The questionnaire also 
had an open-ended response section that was designed to elicit more information about 
why teachers were using particular teaching practices.
Sample and procedure
Six questionnaires were mailed to each of the 69 high schools in metropolitan Sydney 
offering the Standard Course. A letter addressed to the principal asked that the 
questionnaires be given to the teachers of the Standard Course in the school. All schools 
were contacted by telephone in the following weeks to encourage the completion and 
return of the questionnaires. One hundred and twenty-two teachers from 44 schools 
returned the questionnaires. This represented 62% of the total number of targeted schools 
and approximately 52% of the total number of Standard Course teachers in the schools 
sampled.
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