Abstract:

Arguably, there are two problems that face people involved in mathematics education around the world, namely, students’ lack of achievement in, and disengagement from, the subject. These are worrying phenomena to all education systems around the world. However, learning mathematics can be made more interesting by providing the students with an environment which has a focus on the improvement of student intellectual reasoning, while making teaching and learning in schools more applicable to the students’ everyday lives. Thus students’ perceptions of their mathematics learning environments provide valuable information that may be helpful in characterizing mathematics learning environment that foster learning.

In this study, two questionnaires were used to gather the data. One was developed based on a Quality Teaching Framework (NSW, 2003) and designed to assess students’ perceptions of their learning environments in mathematics classrooms. The other was modified form the Test of Mathematics Related Attitude (TOMRA) to assess student attitudes towards their mathematics classrooms. Analyzing of the data of 1200 students from middle classes (grade 7-9) in 20 boys and girls schools provides evidence of the reliability and validity of the questionnaires to be use in Saudi school settings. This paper shows some results of the study and also provides some advice for improving mathematics learning environment in general.

Keywords:

Mathematics Education, Classroom Environment, Teacher Education, Professional Development, the Quality Teaching Framework.