Assessing mathematics teachers' knowledge in teaching thinking skills

Abstract

Teaching of thinking skills, paramount in effective teaching and learning of Mathematics, requires sufficiently knowledgeable teachers for its delivery. As such, it is equally important to determine the minimum level of knowledge required of the teachers, so that, the intended tasks could be carried out successfully. Thus, this quantitative study was conducted with its aim to identify the level of teachers’ knowledge in teaching thinking skills. A total of 199 Mathematics teachers were selected as the respondents in this study. The collected data was analyzed inferentially to identify the levels of teachers’ knowledge in teaching thinking skills across school categories. The results obtained showed that, Mathematics teachers in primary schools had a relatively lower level of knowledge in teaching thinking skills, compared to their peers in secondary schools. This study revealed the importance of teaching thinking skills to students. Teacher must gain the mastery of thinking skills themselves, so that they would be able to deliver the related lessons effectively. Thus, Mathematics teacher should always keep improving themselves to fully master the teaching of thinking skills to the students.