Relationship between Mathematics Teachers’ Teaching Styles and Students’ Achievement in Mathematics

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between teaching styles of 30 grade 9 mathematics teachers and the achievement of their 1489 students. The Grasha Model of learning styles was adapted in the study. Results of the analysis indicated a significant relation between teaching style and student achievement based on students' highest mean percentage score. Approximately 39% of the total variance in students’ achievement is attributable to the difference between the teaching styles. Post hoc comparisons showed that students whose teachers exhibit the Expert style, as well as those whose teachers use a combination of teaching styles have significantly higher achievement scores than students whose teachers employ the Formal Authority style of teaching. Since favorable teaching styles were identified from this study among grade 9 teachers and students, a wider research on the association of teaching styles and student achievement in mathematics focusing on other grade levels is being put forward. This may also help determine at which grade level student achievement starts to decline and further identify effective teaching styles appropriate for each grade level. Pre-service teacher training and in-service teacher retooling may likewise be conducted to leverage academic learning by allowing teachers to discover their teaching styles and improve on them. Keywords: teaching style, students’ achievement, mathematics