What we evaluate, when we evaluate the level of mathematic skills?

Abstract

The evaluation of skill-level in mathematics and the proposed activities to improve the skill-level often include only narrow area of the context of learning. Measuring the skill-level and its background variables is often targeted to traits on individual-level, such as liking mathematics, feeling of self-efficacy, or gender. To improve the individual-level traits, measures targeted to individuals, such as the use of games in mathematics teaching to improve the attitudes towards mathematics, have been suggested. However, learning happens on many contexts with different dimensions that cannot be separated from one another. An individual learns and forms concept structures in social interaction, which has been shaped by the prevailing culture. The challenges in learning mathematics should be examined from a perspective that is wider than the individual. When the mechanical increase in skill-level of an individual is scrutinized, we may forget the purpose and benefits of increasing the skill-level in comparison with the prevailing concept.