MATHEMATICS TEACHERS' CONCEPTIONS ABOUT PROBLEM SOLVING AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THEIR CLASSROOM PRACTICES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

Abstract

The study investigated secondary school mathematics teachers’ conceptions of problem solving and their classroom practices. The study was based on theoretical frameworks represented by Anderson (1996), Ernest (1991) and Bernardo (2002). The study was conducted in selected secondary schools in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Simple random and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 20 teachers from twenty schools. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview schedule and classroom observation checklist. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. In general, the results of this study indicated that there was no significant correlation between teachers’ conceptions about problem solving and their classroom practice. The results of this study also showed that teachers tend to hold strong conceptions about problem solving that are consistent with the instrumental view. In view of the findings, it was recommended that in-order to gradually challenge the teachers’ negative conceptions about mathematical problem-solving, adequate educational interventions should be planned and implemented in teacher education programmes and that teacher educators should assist and support teachers in concretizing these conceptions by undertaking reforms at both the pre-service and in-service training levels. Article visualizations: