Mathematics teacher’s teaching behaviors and perceived competence in Mathematics among middle school students

Abstract

The study examined how middle school students perceived their mathematics teachers' teaching behaviors and the relationship between these perceptions and students' perceived competence in the subject. A total of 637 students in grades 6 to 9 from several middle schools in Vietnam participated in a survey using the Vietnamese versions of the Teacher as Social Context Questionnaire and the 4-item Perceived Competence Scale. This results indicated no significant differences in perceptions of math teachers' teaching behaviors by students' gender or grade level. Male students reported higher perceived competence than female students, and 6th-grade students had the highest perceived competence among the four grades. Correlation analysis revealed that three types of teaching behaviors were positively correlated with students' perceived competence: teacher involvement, structure, and autonomy support. However, teacher involvement emerged as the only statistically significant predictor of students' perceived competence. In contrast, autonomy support and structure did not predict significant unique variance when included in the same model. The regression model accounted for 15.7% of the variance in perceived competence. The findings emphasize the central role of emotional connection between teachers and students in shaping students' perceived competence in Mathematics. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of supportive interpersonal interactions within middle school math classrooms in Vietnam.