“Creature” Teachers “Monster” Mathematicians: Students’ Views about Mathematicians and Their Stated Attitudes to Mathematics

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine lower secondary students’ images of mathematics comprised of stated attitudes to and perceived needs for mathematics, and their views about mathematicians and their work. A group of 1284 lower secondary students drew a picture of mathematicians and described their drawings. The students’ drawings fell into two distinct groups: drawings where students depicted a mathematician at work, and drawings where students depicted a mathematician as a mathematics teacher. In both cases students drew both negative (“creature” or “monster”) depictions and positive (“smiley”) depictions. This article presents the data on “creature” teachers or “monster” mathematicians in relation to the students’ stated attitudes to mathematics. Trends that emerged for this sample suggested that more students who represented creature teachers disliked mathematics or had mixed feelings related to the need to learn mathematics.