The effectiveness of a training course to develop effective teaching competencies among mathematics teachers according to the McCarthy model

Abstract

The mathematics teacher is one of the teachers that the Ministry of Education in all developed and developing countries alike requires to be available within the teaching staff in every school, due to the great power of mathematics on the mental development of the learner, as the process of understanding the mathematics teacher of how his students learn is a basic axis when choosing effective teaching strategies. It is noticeable that the teaching method in most cases continues to be based on traditional methods by mathematics teachers. This leads to errors or difficulties when students try to understand mathematical laws and concepts. Traditional methods do not allow the teacher to reach an understanding of individual differences among students, which helps him solve or overcome them by choosing an appropriate teaching method. Adopting teaching models that take into account the different learning styles of students helps in raising their achievement level in mathematics, and the student’s achievement level is linked to the degree of compatibility between the teacher’s teaching style and the student’s learning style in that subject.

Teacher training and development programs help the education system bring about positive change in the lives of both teachers and students. They help develop teachers' professional thinking and practices throughout their careers. They also contribute to changes in teachers' practices and their students' learning. Research has shown that both formal and informal professional development activities are essential for improving educational practices, teaching methods, and student achievement. To this end, the McCarthy model was chosen, using which we developed a training course to help mathematics teachers organize their lesson plans.

To determine the impact of the McCarthy model on enhancing the teaching competencies of mathematics teachers, the researcher formulated the following hypotheses:

A- There is no statistically significant difference at the (0.05) level between the average scores of the experimental group trained using the McCarthy model and the average scores of the control groups trained using the traditional method in enhancing the teaching competencies of mathematics teachers in the post-test.

B- There is no statistically significant difference at the 0.05 level between the average scores of the experimental group trained using the McCarthy model and the average scores of the control groups trained using the conventional method in the skill of Creative learning in the post-test.

C- There is no statistically significant difference at the 0.05 level between the average scores of the experimental group trained using the McCarthy model and the average scores of the control groups trained using the conventional method in the skill of Analytical learning in the post-test.

D- There is no statistically significant difference at the (0.05) level between the average scores of the experimental group trained using the McCarthy model and the average scores of the control groups trained using the traditional method in the Common sense learning skill in the post-test.

E- There is no statistically significant difference at the (0.05) level between the average scores of the experimental group trained using the McCarthy model and the average scores of the control groups trained using the traditional method in the dynamic learning skill in the post-test.

In order for the researcher to reach the research results, she built a scale for the teaching competencies of mathematics teachers consisting of (20) items, divided into four areas, namely (Creative learning skill, Analytical learning skill, Common sense learning skill, dynamic learning skill), and each area in its initial form consists of (5) items. She applied the test to (200) male and female teachers in order to extract its psychometric properties, and then the scale became composed of (18), and then she withdrew the teachers who obtained scores less than the hypothetical average of (54) points, after which she divided the teachers into two groups (experimental and control), and each group consisted of (18) male and female teachers, and then she carried out the equivalence processes between the two groups, and after applying her experiment using the McCarthy model, the results of the post-test showed the following:

1-The program using the McCarthy model has an impact on raising the teaching competencies of mathematics teachers.

2- The program using the McCarthy model has an impact on raising the teaching competencies of mathematics teachers by developing the skill of Creative learning.

3-The program using the McCarthy model has an impact on raising the teaching competencies of mathematics teachers by developing the skill of Analytical learning.

4- The program using the McCarthy model has an impact on raising the teaching competencies of mathematics teachers by developing the skill of Common sense learning.

5-The program's use of the McCarthy model has an impact on raising the level of teaching competencies among mathematics teachers by dynamic learning skills.