Assessing United States and Chinese Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Interest in Fractral Geometry
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to build the knowledge of secondary math teachers’ (referring to grades 6-12 in this study) interest levels for professional development in fractal geometry and look for factors that influence such interests. The instrument of the study included a survey with two parts: demographic information and levels of interest. The results of the study indicated that secondary math teachers in the U.S. and China showed overall moderate levels of interest in learning and teaching fractal knowledge. U.S. teachers showed more interest in each item of fractal learning and teaching than Chinese teachers. Furthermore, the results also indicated that factors such as nationality, age, and experience of integrating fractals made statistically significant differences in teachers’ interests. The conclusion leads to some interesting discussions about the differences between U.S. and Chinese educational cultures and systems, as well as some suggestions of which group of teachers to involve in professional development about fractal geometry based on influence levels factors.