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Pupil and Teacher Questionnaires
Main Messages - Questionnaires
- Across the stages most pupils wanted to do well in mathematics but their enjoyment and interest decreased through primary into S2
- Teachers agreed that the majority of pupils had good motivation and that motivation was higher in primary school compared to S2
- Pupil confidence in mathematics was generally lower at S2 than in primary
- According to pupils, there was more discussion of mathematics in primary school than in S2
- Pupils and teachers agreed that teaching as a whole class was more frequent in S2 than in primary
- Confidence among teachers was generally lowest at P3 and increased to P7. Teachers of S2 were consistently confident teaching mathematics topics
- Teachers' ratings of pupil attendance and class behaviour was 'very positive'
- Around one in five primary teachers had not taken part in any mathematical CPD in the last four years.
Pupil Questionnaires
The charts below show some of the key findings from the pupil questionnaires. In total around 10,000 pupils per stage returned completed questionnaires. Two versions of the questionnaires were distributed with a limited number of questions common to both, consequently the results to each question were based on a minimum of 4,500 - 5,500 responses each.
Attitudes Towards Mathematics
Pupils were asked a number of questions relating to their attitude towards mathematics and to their perceptions of their own mathematics ability. Some of the main findings are shown below.
Chart 10 Pupil questionnaires
How good do you think you are at maths?
% of pupils responding
Chart 10 shows that pupils' self assessment of their ability in mathematics decreased as they progressed through the stages. At P3, more than three quarters of pupils rated themselves above average but by S2 this fell to less than half.
Chart 11 Pupil questionnaires
Attitudes towards mathematics
% of pupils responding
Chart 11 shows how often pupils agreed with a series of statements related to their attitude towards mathematics. The chart shows a general decline in positive responses to each question from P3 through to S2. In particular over half of P3 pupils reported that they 'very often' found maths both interesting and enjoyable. This decreased to less than a quarter of pupils by S2.
However pupils' ratings of how often they want to do well in maths were more positive. Although this showed a decrease from primary into secondary, over 80 per cent of pupils at each stage reported that they 'very often' wanted to do well in mathematics.
Confidence in Mathematics
Pupils were asked a number of questions relating to their confidence in mathematics. The results are shown in Chart 12.
Chart 12 Pupil questionnaires
Confidence in mathematics
% of pupils responding
The chart shows that S2 pupils consistently reported lower levels of confidence than pupils in primary. Between a quarter and a third of S2 pupils reported feeling confident 'very often' in the areas explored, while across the primary stages, around half of pupils claimed they felt confident in the three areas 'very often'. Around 15 per cent of pupils at S2 reported 'hardly ever' feeling confident across the three questions. This is consistently greater than at any of the primary stages.
Discussions in Mathematics
Pupils were asked a number of questions relating to how often they had the opportunity to discuss mathematics within the classroom and specifically with their teacher. Charts 13 and 14 present the main findings.
Chart 13 Pupil Questionnaires
Discussion in the classroom
% of pupils responding
In general about a fifth of pupils across all stages reported that they discussed mathematics 'very often'. Through primary the proportion who reported 'hardly ever' decreased before increasing in S2 with around 30 per cent of S2 pupils reporting 'hardly ever' in response to each of these questions.
Chart 14 Pupil questionnaires
Discussing mathematics with your teacher
% of pupils responding
The proportion of pupils reporting that they 'very often' talked with their teacher about what they were going to learn remained steady through primary, at around 60 per cent, before dropping to around 40 per cent at S2. The proportion reporting that they were 'very often' asked to explain their answers in mathematics increased from just under 40 per cent to almost 60 per cent between P3 and S2. The proportion reporting that they 'very often' suggested ways to answer maths problems remained relatively stable across the stages at around 25 to 30 per cent.
Usefulness of Mathematics in the Future
Pupils were asked about how useful mathematics will be when they leave school. Ninety per cent of P3 pupils thought studying mathematics would be useful when they left school. This figure rose to around 95 per cent among the older pupils.
Support in Mathematics
Pupils were asked a number of questions relating to the support they felt they received within the classroom.
Chart 15 Pupil questionnaires
Support in mathematics
% of pupils responding
Chart 15 shows that the proportion of pupils reporting that their teacher 'very often' started lessons by explaining what they were going to learn, dropped from over 70 per cent in P3 to just over 50 per cent in S2. Less than half of pupils at all stages reported 'very often' getting extra help when they needed it. More than half reported that their teacher 'very often' helped them to understand how they could do better in maths.
Detailed Lesson Activity
A range of questions were asked relating to the activities taking place in mathematics lessons. Pupils reported being taught as a class, using text books and writing in jotters as being more frequent activities as they moved from P3 to S2. They reported working with groups or partners, working with computers and carrying out investigations and problem solving more frequently in the early stages, with a decrease in these activities up to S2.
Full details of pupils' experiences of the activities that took place in their mathematics classes are available in the supporting evidence.
Activities Outside School
Pupils were asked a range of questions relating to their time outside school.
Chart 16 Pupil questionnaires
Activity outside of school - talking with adults
% of pupils responding
Chart 16 shows the results of questions relating to talking with an adult about their learning in mathematics and about topical issues in the news. The proportion of pupils reporting 'hardly ever' talking with an adult about what they learned in their mathematics lessons increased from around 20 per cent to over 40 per cent between P3 and S2. The proportion who 'sometimes' talked about topical issues with an adult increased from P3 to S2 but the proportion who reported hardly ever doing this remained at about 40 per cent for all stages.
Chart 17 Pupil questionnaires
After school activity
% of pupils responding
Chart 17 shows the proportion of pupils taking part in school clubs and other after school activity. More pupils attended activities outside school than school clubs across all stages. In both cases the proportion increased to a maximum at P5 before decreasing through P7 and into S2. The most popular activities amongst pupils were sports and keeping fit, and attending young people's organisations such as youth clubs or scouts/guides. The most popular activities organised within school were music and art clubs.
Further details of activities pupils participate in outside school can be found in the supporting evidence.
Teacher Questionnaires
All teachers teaching mathematics to sample pupils were asked to complete a questionnaire exploring their attitudes and experiences of learning and teaching. The charts below show some of the key findings from this enquiry. In total around 1,000 to 1,400 teachers returned completed questionnaires at each stage. This is around three quarters of the questionnaires distributed at each stage. Full results are available in the supporting evidence.
Gender
Over 90 per cent of the teachers completing the questionnaire at primary stages were female. At S2, 52 per cent were female. Across the stages the proportion of male teachers increased from 5 per cent at P3 to 12 per cent at P7.
Teaching Experience
The following chart describes the length of experience of the teachers in the survey
Chart 18 Teacher questionnaires
Teaching experience
% of teachers of mathematics responding
Chart 18 shows a fairly consistent profile of experience across the stages. Most teachers had been teaching for more than five years and around half had been in their current post for more than five years.
Confidence in Teaching Mathematics
Teachers were asked how confident they were in teaching the following mathematics topics; algebraic processes such as functions and equations, fractions, graphs and charts, patterns and sequences, percentages, ratio, the four operations and whole number processes.
For each topic, over 85 per cent of S2 teachers reported being 'very confident'. Teachers' confidence in teaching mathematics generally increased from P3 to P7. Primary teachers were most confident teaching graphs and charts and patterns and sequences, and least confident teaching ratio and algebraic processes.
Development and Support
The results of a number of questions that related to development and support are given below.
Around one in five primary teachers had not participated in professional development opportunities in mathematics during the last four years. Around a third had participated in more than two, with the rest evenly split between one and two opportunities.
At secondary, seven per cent had taken up no opportunities in the previous four years. Three quarters had taken more than two opportunities, with the rest split between one and two opportunities.
Two questions were asked relating to satisfaction with guidance and professional development.
Chart 19 Teacher questionnaires
Development and guidance
% of teachers of mathematics responding
Across the stages most teachers were 'fairly satisfied' with the development opportunities in mathematics that had been made available to them. Across all stages around 15 per cent were 'not at all satisfied'. However, at each stage similar proportions of teachers were very satisfied.
Teachers were specifically asked about information and support relating to Curriculum for Excellence, which is currently being introduced to Scottish schools. While the majority were 'fairly' or 'very satisfied', over a quarter of primary teachers and almost 40 per cent of secondary teachers were 'not at all satisfied'.
Teachers were asked how often additional staff were available to support mathematics lessons. At primary around 75 per cent reported that support was available at least in 'most weeks'. At S2 this dropped to just over 50 per cent with more than a third reporting that extra support was available 'once a year or less'.
Detailed results are available in the supporting evidence.
Pupil Attitude
Teachers were asked to rate their pupils' lesson attendance, behaviour in class and motivation to learn.
Chart 20 Teacher questionnaires
Attendance, behaviour and motivation
% of teachers of mathematics responding
Almost all teachers reported that their pupils' lesson attendance, behaviour in class and motivation to learn were either 'good' or 'very good'. At S2, a small number of teachers reported negative opinions on these issues; six per cent of S2 teachers reported that their pupils' lesson attendance was 'poor', 11 per cent reported poor behaviour in class and 16 per cent reported poor learning motivation.
Pupil Assessment
Teachers were asked a number of questions to investigate how they assessed pupils in mathematics.
Chart 21 Teacher questionnaires
Pupil assessment
% of teachers of mathematics responding
The results show that over 85 per cent of teachers 'often' assessed pupils through class work or homework. Similar proportions of primary teachers 'often' used assessment information to plan lessons, although the proportion was lower in S2, where just over 60 per cent reported doing this with the same frequency.
Less than a quarter allowed their pupils to 'often' decide on their next step in learning mathematics although over 85 per cent at primary and 75 per cent at S2 provided these opportunities at least 'sometimes'. Almost all teachers reported at least 'sometimes' providing opportunities for pupils to reflect on the evidence of their learning in mathematics. Almost two-thirds of primary teachers and around 40 per cent of S2 teachers 'often' did this.
Teachers were asked about the types of assessment they used in mathematics. Around a third of primary teachers and almost half of S2 teachers reported 'often' using standardised tests to assess levels of attainment in mathematics. Over 85 per cent of primary teachers and 63 per cent of secondary teachers reported using National Assessments with pupils. Of those who used these over 90 per cent said the results agreed with their own judgements in the 'majority' of cases. At P3, 50 per cent reported this as being 'almost always' the case. At P5 and P7, the proportion was 44 per cent and at S2 it was 22 per cent.
Lesson Activities
Teachers were asked a series of questions on the activities taking place in their mathematics classes.
Most frequent activities for pupils as reported by their teachers were working quietly on their own, using text books and writing in jotters. 'Working quietly on their own' showed a slight decrease through primary before increasing in S2. The other categories all increased in frequency from P3 up to S2. Being taught as a class showed a large increase in frequency between primary and S2. This is consistent with the results of the pupil questionnaire.
On the basis of the teachers' reports, working with computers, completing worksheets and working with numbers all become less frequent activities from P3 to S2.
Full details of teachers' reports on the activities taking place in their mathematics classes are available in the supporting evidence.
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