What Factors Support or Inhibit Secondary Mathematics Pre-service Teachers’ Implementation of Problem-Solving Tasks during Professional Experience?

Source: Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 44, Issue 5, 2016, Pages 504-521.

This qualitative study examined the factors that support or inhibit secondary mathematics pre-service teachers’ implementation of problem-solving tasks during professional experience.
Data were collected through responses to a questionnaire and interviews.

The results showed that even though the majority of pre-service teachers reported having beliefs compatible with using problem-solving tasks, the secondary students’ ability, preparation time, and the cooperating teacher were key factors that inhibited pre-service teachers’ implementation of problem-solving tasks.

It is recommended that pre-service teachers regularly visit classrooms to observe the evolving implementation of problem-solving approaches.
Furthermore, cooperating teachers should be required to attend professional development before the professional experience so they understand the goals of the university preparation programme and have the requisite skills and knowledge to support the implementation of problem-solving tasks in learning mathematics.