A Study of Field Independence versus Field Dependence of School Teachers and University Students in Mathematics

Abstract

The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to 72 secondary school teachers and 54 university students in mathematics to measure their cognitive styles of field independence–dependence. A mean difference was found between the teachers and students as teachers scored more field-independent than the students. There was also a group-by-sex interaction, which indicated that the female teachers scored more field-independent than the male teachers, whereas the male students scored as more field-independent than the female students. Implications of the findings are reflected in the discussion.