| Summary: | 碩士 === 中原大學 === 教育研究所 === 101 === This study applied a questionnaire survey to investigate elementary school teachers’ beliefs regarding using calculators in math teaching. The research population comprised current elementary school teachers in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli. Overall, we obtained 379 valid samples. A questionnaire named elementary school teachers’ beliefs regarding calculators integration in math teaching was used as the research tool. The teacher beliefs subscale used in the questionnaire was adapted from the scale designed by Brown et al. (2007), which measured 5 factors of teacher beliefs in applying calculators for mathematic instruction, namely, catalyst beliefs, teacher knowledge , knowledge crutch beliefs, skill crutch beliefs, and teacher practices. The results obtained from statistical analysis were as follows.
1. The numbers of elementary school teachers in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli who approved and opposed the idea of using calculators in math teaching were similar. In general, the teacher beliefs were neutral or somewhat negative regarding this topic.
2. Elementary school teachers in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli who had participated in relevant workshops or training activities were inclined to approve applying calculators in math teaching. By contrast, those who had not participated in related events were inclined to object to calculator use.
3. Compared to female elementary school teachers, male elementary school teachers in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli demonstrated a significantly higher tendency to assess themselves as having sufficient knowledge to integrate using calculators in math lessons.
4. Elementary school teachers who had participated in workshops related to the integration of calculators in math teaching demonstrated differences compared with other teachers in the following aspects.
(1) Elementary school teachers who had participated in workshops related to the integration of calculators in math teaching demonstrated significantly stronger agreement that using calculators promoted math leaning compared with other teachers.
(2) Elementary school teachers who had participated in workshops related to the integration of calculators in math teaching evaluated themselves as having sufficient knowledge to integrate calculators in math lessons compared with other teachers.
(3) Elementary school teachers who had participated in workshops related to the integration of calculators in math teaching were inclined to approve using calculators in elementary school math lessons.
Finally, based on these results, this study recommends that educational competent authorities, schools, and current elementary school teachers organize and attend increased workshops and training activities regarding the adoption of calculators in math lessons. Prospective researchers can further investigate other variables regarding this topic to create a reference for future discussions and implementation of calculator integration in math teaching.
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