CHAPTER 1

PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Background of the Study

The word mathematics came from a Greek word “μάθημα” (máthēma) which means

science or study. Mathematics is "the branch of human enquiry involving the study of numbers,

quantities, data, shape and space and their relationships, especially their generalizations and

abstractions and their application to situations in the real world" (Clapham & Nicholson, 2009, p.

505). Mathematicians generalise new formulas or methods based on similar patterns for different

branches of mathematics (Devlin, 2004). Before teaching mathematics, every teacher should be

informed well about the educational values of this subject. Proper teaching method should also

be adopted according to the situation, learning environment and educational background of the

students. It is very important to keep the motivational level of students high otherwise they lose

interest in mathematics (Butler & Wren, 1965). Students can be motivated by highlighting the

importance of this subject, for example, mathematics is quite essential to learn other science

related subjects. Moreover, students can avail good employment opportunities in their future life

because of diverse applicability of mathematics in many fields (Rani, 2007). Teachers should be

cleared about the following goals of teaching mathematics (Cornelius, 1982; Sidhu, 1995).

Mathematics education thrives in face-to-face teaching spaces. This is partially due to the

nature of mathematics, “its capacity to compress information into abstract and highly usable

forms” (Adler & Davis, 2006, p. 274), which requires learners to make sense of the abstract

mathematical concepts and phenomena building on their experiences. Teachers unpack or

decompress mathematics knowledge for their students by implementing pedagogical strategies,

such as problem posing/solving, inquiry-based teaching, using manipulatives, and collaborative

work (Ball & Bass, 2003)

Coombes (2020) States that effective teachers of mathematics know the pedagogy that

determines how their students successfully learn. Such teachers recognize that in order for

students to effectively use mathematics they need to understand the concepts presented as well as

become fluent with the skill taught. It is through the ongoing and increasingly complex

application of concepts and skills that students become secure and competent in their use. They

recognize the importance of using concrete materials and visual representations to develop a

deep understanding of the subject. They have a clear picture of the learning progression that best

develops the knowledge base and skills of their students. They also have a broad palate of

learning experiences they can use in the classroom, to meet the different learning needs of each

student.

Parker (2015) concluded that effective teachers are able to look at student

misconceptions, either in the classwork, through homework, or through assessments, and reteach

the material using their understanding of the developmental nature of what becomes before or

after the misconception. Deep understanding of the content enables teachers to directly address

the specific misunderstandings that students may have. Such teachers need to be continual

learners. Effective pedagogy is the subject of ongoing research and development, and the way to

teach and learn mathematics is never static. Students learn math best when they approach the

subject as something they enjoy. Speed pressure, timed testing and blind memorization pose high

hurdles in the pursuit of math, according to Jo Boaler, professor of mathematics education  at

Stanford Graduate School of Education and lead author on a new working paper called "Fluency

Without Fear."
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"There is a common and damaging misconception in mathematics – the idea that strong math

students are fast math students," said Boaler, also cofounder of YouCubed at Stanford, which

aims to inspire and empower math educators by making accessible in the most practical way the

latest research on math learning.

Mathematics students have to face the prospect of learning mathematics that is

physiologically and psychologically uncomfortable for them in their mathematics classes if they

are not coping well in it. Therefore, such students may consciously or unconsciously attempt to

reduce such discomforts in their mathematics learning through their thought processes and

actions. Such thought processes and actions are “defense mechanisms” that are defined by Freud

(1936) as a set of mental processes with self-protective instincts or dispositions that can

culminate into protective behaviors. Cooper (1998, p 951) sees defense mechanism as “a force

struggling to against a counterforce, usually involving undesirable (anxiety-producing) content”

and generally associates with the phenomenon of anxiety and pain. However, through the use of

defense mechanisms, individuals can sustain their growth and homeostasis as part of their normal

development (Cooper, 1998; Kernberg, 1994)

The researchers will try to know the significant difference between the profile and the

challenges encountered in teaching mathematics in new normal education in secondary level in

the municipality of San Andres. Its purpose is to determine the level of difference so that

recommendation can be made.

Statement of the Problem

The main objective of the study is to determine the Challenges for Teaching Mathematics
in a New Normal Education in the Secondary Level in the Municipality of San Andres,
Catanduanes.

Specifically, this sought to find the answers for the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the Secondary Mathematics Teachers in the Municipality of

San Andres in terms of:

a. Age

b. Sex

c. Years in service

d. Teaching position

2. What are the challenges of secondary mathematics teachers in the municipality of San

Andres, Catanduanes amid the new normal education?

3. Is there a significant difference between the profile and challenges in teaching

mathematics in new normal education in secondary level in the municipality of San

Andres, Catanduanes?

Significance of the Study

As a “would-be” molder and facilitator of learning of students, it is very much important

to know the challenges of Mathematics Teachers during this new normal education.

If we will look into the brighter side of this study, it will benefit the school administrators

and principals that will help them to be more aware of the different factors that may lead to

difficulties which may be encountered by Mathematics Teachers upon implementing the new

normal education and think of the best coping strategies to eliminate such problems.
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Through this study, the Department Head of Catanduanes will also be enlightened about

the problems that their teachers are encountering. This will help them think of some technique

that will help overcome these difficulties and enhance the ability of the teachers to teach well in

this subject during this pandemic.

Scope and Delimitation

The focus of this study was to determine the challenges of Mathematics Teacher in

teaching mathematics during this new normal education. All the mathematics teachers in the

Municipality of San Andres, Catanduanes are the respondent of the study conducted.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined in this study for the readers to understand it more

comprehensively.

Profile – Age, Sex, Years in Service and Teaching Position.

Challenges – problems by the respondents that causing them a hindrance on their

teaching.

New Normal – is a statement to which an economy, society that settles following a crisis,

when this differs from the situation that prevailed prior to the start of the crisis.

Mathematics Teachers – have a degree that one who facilitate, teach and involve in this

research
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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the related literature and studies which helped the researchers to

established the bases in forming the statement of the problems and conceptual framework of this

research. It serves as a guiding path in tracking important ideas, concepts relevant in

understanding any research work. The related literature and studies of this research work

identifies learning difficulties in mathematics of the students and the possible coping mechanism

to address such problems.

Related Literature

Mathematics learning can be a stressful event due to the social demands and expectations

on Singaporean students in terms of mathematics education. This source of stress worsens for

many students who find mathematics difficult (Jackson & Leffingwell, 1999; Burns, 1998; Misra

& McKean, 2000). In coping literature, Lazarus and Folkman (1986) first categorised coping

strategies in stressful situations into either problem focused (taking behavioural action to

alleviate problematic event) or emotion focused (alleviating the expected emotional or

physiological distress of the problematic event through controlling or discharging emotions).

Later, Carver, Scheier and Weintraub (1989) divided coping into active and avoidant strategies

while Higgins and Endler (1995) grouped it into three categories: task-oriented, emotion-

oriented, and avoidance-oriented. Cartwright and Cooper (1996) instead perceived coping

strategies as being categorised into adaptive and maladaptive ones.

Mathematics is different from the subjects involving readings thus practical work is its

major part. Laboratory method has the capacity to deal with practical work in mathematics. It is a

method of “learning by doing”. That is why, different kinds of tools and equipment’s are used in

it to perform practical work which includes drawing of different shapes, taking measurements of

geometrical figures and making of charts and graphs. Students go through different experiments

in laboratory or classroom and learn by observing and calculating themselves. During this

process, they get opportunity to draw conclusions and generalize different laws and formulas.

Therefore, this method can be said an extended form of inductive method (Sidhu, 1995).

Teaching mathematics in a time of lockdown, a hitherto unseen context, required

mathematics teachers to adapt their usual didactical praxeologies (DP) to fit the new situation.

The teachers’ answers to the open-ended items of the questionnaire used in this study could be

conceived as an initiation of a potential dialogue between teachers and researchers. Due to the

questionnaire, in fact, teachers are invited to present the adaptation of their DP, developing

justifications about the choices they made. This interpretation poses teachers’ answers at a meta-

level, since it is the beginning of sharing their reflections with the researchers. The fact that the

teachers do not limit themselves to only describing what they do (they, in fact, share ideas,

reflections, doubts, etc.) represents evidence of teachers’ need to pose their discourse at a meta-

level. Hence, we found that the MDT framework was effective for our investigation.
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Related Studies

Lefkowitz (2020) concluded that teaching methods used today stress memorization and

the use of calculators. Students are taught by rote instead of analyzing and understanding, with

the primary focus placed on test scores. Test scores are essential but not sufficient. If we believe

that the objective of a quality education for our children is to develop the skills associated with

learning and thinking, we need to do much more. New and innovative learning programs need to

be implemented, integrating available technology to stimulate students' creativity, imagination

and confidence. They need more hands-on and effortful learning in order to spark their curiosity

and enjoyment of learning.

The shift to a virtual platform across K12 necessitates the availability of technology

remotely to facilitate lesson delivery and ongoing communication among students, teachers,

parents, and other stakeholders (Government of Ontario, 2020). Initially, making sure that

teachers, students, and parents have access to technological devices was a challenge (Statistics

Canada, 2019); therefore, local school boards in Ontario offered technology pick-ups for laptops,

iPads, and tablets for those in need, which ensured access for all (Strong, 2020). Furthermore, to

help students make sense of abstract mathematical concepts using concrete materials (e.g.,

measuring sticks, snap cubes, and geoboards), teachers and parents improvised by using

household items, finding links to online manipulatives, or using statistics/graphs about the

pandemic (Skarky, 2020).

Developing a growth mindset (Boaler, 2016; Dweck, 2008) among students is vital for

learning mathematics. It requires consistent and regular guidance from teachers through
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collaborative opportunities with peers that allow students to witness multiple solutions (Boaler,

2016). This was re-envisioned by creating collaborative teams in the form of breakout groups,

where students connected using social platforms/apps. This section mapped some of the way’s

mathematics education was reimagined from face-to face to virtual delivery. As we continue

grappling with the COVID-19 situation, we turn to an inactive approach and propose a

contemplative space to make sense of the constraints caused by the pandemic and the

opportunities for reimagining research in mathematics education.

Enactivism is an approach to cognitive science which challenges theories of mind that

continue to perpetuate the dualistic views of mind, such as knowledge/action, human/world, and

mind/body binaries. Enactivism claims that cognition emerges from a network of interactions

among agents and their environment. From the enactivist perspective, a mathematical

community does not simply react to an existing pandemic environment around them; the

community and the environment co-emerge. The shift from face-to-face to online teaching and

learning environments cannot be seen as a pre-given problem for the community to react to, but

rather as an opportunity for the community to “pose the relevant issues that need to be addressed

at each moment” (Varela et al., 1993, p. 145) and to reimagine mathematics education within the

constraints related to the pandemic. The mathematical community, then, brings forth the world of

significance (e.g., mathematics) on a moment to moment basis through their actions and

interactions with others and with their environment (Varela et al., 1993), which in our view

makes enactivism a relevant lens to study the emerging mathematical environment and

community. Drawing from complexity and an inactive approach, Davis and Simmt (2003)

describe the conditions that promote an emergence of a mathematical community, including (a)

internal diversity (the members of a community contributing in different ways), (b) redundancy
 10

(duplication and excess of the features that are necessary for the emergence of an intelligent

collective), (c) decentralized control (no one seems to be in charge of the community and the

community organizes itself as if coordinating agents are present at its centre), (d) organized

randomness (a structural condition that helps to determine balance between redundancy and

internal diversity among members), and (e) neighbour interactions (agents within the complex

system affect one another’s activity). We use these conditions to understand the emergence of

the co-evolving mathematics environment and community in the present context of COVID-19.

The constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for policy makers,

teachers, students, and parents to work together, exchanging ideas, views, experiences, and

knowledge. Every member of the community contributed towards meeting the common goal

(redundancy) of teaching and learning mathematics. The differing experiences and ideas brought

forth by stakeholders created an internal diversity, which in turn allowed for innovative ways to

learn and teach mathematics. The online platform offered opportunities for neighbouring

interactions within the mathematical community to bounce ideas about teaching and learning.

Switching to technology in the form of video lessons or situating math problems in real-world

contexts were instances where stakeholders interacted with each other. From an enactivist lens,

turning to an online platform was not about adapting face-to-face pedagogical strategies by

simply following a prescribed curriculum towards some optimal goal through a prescriptive

logic; that is, “what is not allowed is forbidden” (Varela et al., 1993, p. 195).

It was, rather, about finding other pedagogical strategies while maintaining the viability

of the mathematics education system and moving towards the proscriptive logic—“what is not

forbidden is allowed” (Varela et al., 1993, p. 195). Understanding that what is not forbidden is

allowed opens a space of opportunities for reimagining mathematics education. The online
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platform prompted education stakeholders to reimagine possibilities for teaching and learning

mathematics as well as structuring the learning environment. In the context of the pandemic,

turning to online teaching practices needed to be done quickly with teachers who may have had

little experience with online teaching. Through an enactivist lens, a viable mathematics education

system was reimagined. This points to the need for further research to document and

conceptualize this phenomenon. Likewise, education researchers need to rethink methodologies

and theoretical frameworks in order to understand the emerging educational realities in the

context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coombes (2020) states that effective teachers know what students need to know effective

teachers know and understand the content and practices of the mathematics Standards framework

that students need to know. Such teachers have deep understanding of concepts and utilize

multiple ways to represent and explain them. They are also fluent with the procedures and

practices their students will need in order to succeed in mathematics. The Common Core focus

on career and college readiness requires that students be able to apply mathematics to complex

problems in multiple contexts, both real and mathematical. As a consequence, this is also true for

their teachers. Effective teachers augment fluency procedure with: a. Deep conceptual

understanding, b. Knowledge of where and how to apply and use mathematics skills and

concepts and c. Students need to use the above in both school and in real world contexts.

Conceptual Framework

The study focused on the challenges for teaching mathematics in a new normal education

in the secondary level in the municipality of San Andres, Catanduanes school year 2020-2021
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The independent variable is the respondents in terms of age, sex, years in service and

teaching position.

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

Profile of Secondary Mathematics

Figure CHAPTER
1. Conceptual 3Paradigm
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

A descriptive method of research was used since the main purpose of this study was to

determine the challenges for secondary teachers in teaching mathematics in the new normal

education in relation to their profile, coupled with the documentary analysis of the data obtained

from the questionnaire and from their profile document. The purpose was to gather information

of present condition in order to describe its existing nature at the time of the study and eventually

to explore the cause of the result.

Sources of Data

The primary source of data is the twenty-one (21) Secondary Mathematics Teachers at

the Municipality of San Andres, Catanduanes, school year 2020-2021.

Data Gathering Procedure

Before proceeding to the actual data-gathering process, the researchers first asked

permission from the school principal to allow them conduct the study in the school, to have

access to documents and to distribute the questionnaires to the target respondents. Before

finalizing the research questionnaire, it was shown to the research adviser for validation and two

try-outs have been conducted first to establish the reliability of the instrument. In the actual data
 14

collection, cooperation of the respondents was asked so that valid and reliable data can be drawn

in the process. The researcher personally distributed the questionnaires to the respondents and

explained clearly the main purpose of the study in order to achieve 100% retrieval. The

researchers waited until the respondents are done answering the questionnaire.

Instrumentation and its Validation

The questionnaires for the respondents will consist of profile factors and the listed

factors. To find out whether the instrument (Survey Questionnaire) is valid and reliable, the

subject adviser will be consult to give the remarks, opinion, comments, and to come up with the

conclusion.

The questionnaires consist of three (3) parts. Part I is all about the respondent’s profile in

terms of their age, sex, years in service and teaching position.

For the validity of the questionnaire, the researchers consulted their research adviser and

experts to ensure that the questions will be aligned with the objectives of the study.

Table 1
Reliability and Validation of the Instrument
Respondents Pearson r Interpretation

Challenges Encountered 0.93 Very High Reliability

Try-out 1 and try-out 2 were conducted to the 8 secondary mathematics teachers at San

Andres Vocational School to establish the reliability of the instrument. These 21 mathematics

teachers are the sample respondents of the study. Try-out 1 and try-out 2 was done determine if

there are any revisions needed to make before the final distribution to the respondents of the

students. The results of the try-out 1 and try-out 2 that was done was presented in Table 1.
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The following are the qualitative interpretation of the correlation coefficient r, (Calmorin

and Calmorin, 2007)

+ 1.00 – Perfect Relationship + 0.21 to + 0.40 – Low Relationship

+ 0.91 to + 0.99 – Very High Relationship + 0.01 to + 0.20 – Very Low Relationship

+ 0.71 to + 0.90 – High Relationship + 0.0 – No Relationship

+ 0.41 to + 0.70 – Moderate Relationship

Statistical Treatment of Data

The study used descriptive and inferential statistical tools, which the researcher deemed

as appropriate in the analytical treatment, computation and interpretation of data gathered. The

aid of the Microsoft Excel 2016 is of great help in data presentation. The populations of this

study were only 21 respondents, therefore, there is no need in getting the sample of the

population.

Frequency count and percentage were applied to determine the most prevalent profile of

the respondents. Pearson r was also use to determine the qualitative relationship between the

selected teachers’ profile and the challenges their encountering in this new normal education.

To test the level of significance, the researcher used the lower level significance of 0.05.