Abstract:

Mathematics is an important part of the educational system. Learning mathematics is necessary for an individual´s full development in today’s complex society. Often however we encounter negative attitudes of pupils towards mathematics. Results of international research TIMSS and PISSA shows that Czech pupils basically don´t like mathematics. We are interested in attitudes towards mathematics of future lower primary school mathematics teachers because the professional work of future mathematics teachers largely depends on their attitude to the taught subject.

The paper summarizes the partial results ascertained in research ATM3 (Attitudes towards Mathematics 3) which was practised between prospective lower primary teachers in 2016. This research was focused on student attitudes to the mathematics position among other learning subjects, on student profession self-assessment with respect to mathematics. The main research method was the semantic differential method. The data used was collected by a special questionare for measurement of attitudes. The collected data measures two basic attitude factors — evaluation and energy. These factors were represented as a set of points in so-called „semantic space.“

As a starting point the authors present a two-dimensional semantic space in which students documented the position of mathematics relative to other selected subjects. The attitudes of students of Teaching at the 1st Level of Primary School are not positive. To students, mathematics is associated with a great degree of difficulty, while students do not realize its educational benefit. So the authors focus on student´s attitudes towards their future profession as a teacher with respect to mathematics. The authors traces a development of student´s attitudes throughout their university studies.

Keywords:

Mathematics, prospective teachers, attitudes, semantic differential, self-assessment.