Secondary School mathematics

published:  September 2005

Which aspects of mathematics teaching promote effective student learning and which tend to prevent it?
Students’ views on their learning can have much to tell us about effective teaching. For this TLA research summary we selected and summarised a richly detailed, three-year study of the teaching of mathematics, which takes account of the students’ own perceptions of their learning experiences.

The study examines in considerable depth approaches to mathematics in two English secondary schools that were using markedly different approaches to the teaching of mathematics.  It was conducted in England between 1992 and 1995 and was first published in 1997.  The author revised and expanded the original publication primarily to make it accessible to a United States audience. 

With the recent developments in the curriculum for 14-16 year olds in Key Stage 4, the study makes a relevant and useful contribution to our understanding of effective mathematics teaching.

The study is:

Boaler, J. Experiencing School Mathematics. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002 (revised edition).

It reports findings on the effect of the different approaches to teaching mathematics on students’ academic performance, their beliefs about the nature of 'school mathematics’, their self-confidence in mathematics and their ability to use and apply mathematics in the real world. The study shows how specific characteristics of teaching affected boys and girls differently. It found evidence of inequity for students from different socio-economic backgrounds. Most importantly, it uncovers the specific aspects of teaching which had the greatest impact (either positive or negative) on students’ understanding.