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Measuring teachers’ beliefs: A comparison of three different approaches

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Measuring Teachers’ Beliefs Quantitatively

Part of the book series: Kölner Beiträge zur Didaktik der Mathematik ((KBDM))

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Abstract

The use of Likert scale items for measuring teachers’ beliefs quantita-tively is criticized. In this study, two quantitative methods to measure teachers’ beliefs, a Likert scale instrument as well as a new instrument employing rank-then-rate items, are each compared with a qualitative approach at obtaining be-liefs, i.e. interviews along with observations. In the first comparison, teachers’ responses to the Likert scale instrument seem to not fit the beliefs interpreted from the qualitative approach, particularly regarding beliefs about teaching and learn-ing. Further analyses show that a tendency to respond according to social desira-bility as well as unspecific teaching contexts seem to be responsible for these inconsistencies. In the second comparison, since the rank-then-rate instrument also takes students’ abilities as a teaching context into account, we observed a better fit between teachers’ responses to the instrument and the qualitative ap-proach. The results of both comparisons indicate the importance of considering teaching contexts as well as alternatives to Likert scale items because of social desirability in order to have a better prediction about teachers’ beliefs.

The version of this article in this book is the accepted version. Please visit http://www.ejmste.com for the latest version. If you would like to cite this article, please cite “Safrudiannur & Rott, B. (2020). Measuring teachers’ beliefs: A comparison of three different approaches. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(1), em1796, https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/110058.”

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    Safrudiannur

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Safrudiannur (2020). Measuring teachers’ beliefs: A comparison of three different approaches. In: Measuring Teachers’ Beliefs Quantitatively. Kölner Beiträge zur Didaktik der Mathematik. Springer Spektrum, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-30023-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-30023-4_4

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