Date
6-8-2023
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction (EdD)
Chair
Treg Hopkins
Keywords
flexible seating, self-efficacy, math, elementary school, teacher self-efficacy
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Waters, Lorna-Marie, "The Relationship between Flexible Seating and Math Self-Efficacy for Elementary Math Teachers in Northeast Ohio" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4544.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4544
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine flexible seating and how it can be used to improve achievement in math. Based on the constructivist theory, flexible seating is defined as providing a variety of furniture options for seating that can be easily reconfigured to meet a variety of educational needs, including collaborative work. The purpose of this causal-comparative study is to determine if a statistical difference exists between the use of flexible seating during math instruction (independent variable) and math teacher self-efficacy (dependent variable). This study employed the TSES, short to measure teacher self-efficacy of a teacher who uses one or two types of flexible seating arrangements, three or more types of flexible seating arrangements, and teachers who do not use flexible seating arrangements. A convenience sample of 126 elementary math teachers in Northeast Ohio was used to determine the self-efficacy difference between teachers who utilized various flexible seating arrangements and teachers who utilized traditional seating. A one-way between-groups analysis of covariance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the research question and decide if the null hypothesis was rejected. Results indicate that there is a statistical difference between the use of flexible seating during math instruction and teacher self-efficacy. Implications for using flexible seating and future studies are included in this study.
