Senior High School Mathematics Teachers‘ Perception and Knowledge of the use of Problem-Solving Strategy as an Instructional Approach

Abstract

The research investigated the knowledge base and how mathematics teachers at the senior high schools in the Central Region perceive the use of the problem-solving instructional strategy. This used the sequential exploratory mixed-method design. for this research,136 mathematics teachers from 21 senior high schools responded to the survey questions for purposes data collection after which a sample of 7 out of the 136 mathematics teachers were interviewed followed by an observation of their lessons. The sampling technique adopted for this study was multi-stage in nature. This method was adopted in order to gather the various samples for the research. Both inferential and descriptive statistics were used in analyzing quantitatively the data obtained. Analysis of the qualitative data from the open-ended items was done using the thematic coding technique. This study revealed that mathematics teachers have positive perceptions about the problem-solving instructional approach. It was also found that about 91% of the senior high school mathematics teachers professed knowledge of use in teaching about problem solving and teaching for problem solving rather than teaching through problem solving. Teachers reported practices they could not demonstrate in their actual lesson. Their observed practices in their classroom had a lower score than what they reported. The study recommends that in-service senior high school mathematics teachers should be given professional development training on problem solving instructional approach and how it is used in the classroom.