Improving teachers’ pedagogical knowledge of teaching mathematics: Meta-cognitive skills and strategies application
Abstract: The study explored the ways in which meta-cognitive skills and strategies are used to improve teachers’ pedagogical knowledge of teaching mathematics in schools. The study design used was explanatory sequential mixed-method which included eighty-seven participants (N=87 teachers: males=40 and females=47). The latter were rural mathematics teachers in the Motheo District of Education, South Africa. Eighty-seven teachers took part in a quantitate survey while five teachers were selected for the qualitative case study. One hundred questionnaires were validated through pilot testing. In addition, classroom observations and interviews were used for additional data collection. In the case of data analysis, a statistical package and content analysis were used. This research showed that teachers fostered meta-cognition in a variety of ways, and that they used instruction that was more explicit and collaborative rather than implicit instruction when teaching mathematics. The study established that skills and strategies such as assessing learners’ responses and arguments, interpreting learners’ explanations, structuring appropriate tasks, asking appropriate questions that promoted thinking, and interpreting curriculum resources would potentially improve teachers’ pedagogy of teaching mathematics if these were used during teaching and learning. Recommendations were made to assist in improving teachers’ pedagogical knowledge.
Presider: Christopher Shamburg, New Jersey City University