Teachers’, Researchers’, and Educators’ Partnerships: The Effect of Co-Creation on Pupils’ Problem-Solving Performance in Mathematics

Abstract

The collaboration between teachers, researchers, and educators has proven essential in advancing teacher professional development and improving pupils’ outcomes. This study investigates the effect of co-creating instructional materials and lesson plans on pupils’ mathematics problem-solving skills by employing the principles of co-creation and design-based research (DBR) to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data, providing a comprehensive understanding of the outcomes. A sample of 530 pupils from six primary schools was used, and data were collected using problem assessment sheets for primary 1, 2, and 3 pupils. The assessment tools measured pupils’ problem-solving understanding and competencies across numbers and algebra, measurement and geometry, and data strands. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were applied. The findings revealed that pupils’ performance improved across all three strands due to the co-creation process, with the most significant improvements observed among female pupils and those from rural schools. The factorial ANOVA results showed a significant interaction effect between class level and school location in the geometry and measurement and data strands, with F (2, 518) = 15.15, p < 0.001, and F (2, 518) = 12.28, p < 0.001, respectively. However, the interaction effect of the three independent variables on pupils’ performance in the numbers and algebra strand, F (2, 518) = 1.073, p = 0.342, was not significant. The study concludes that co-creation between teachers, researchers, and educators holds substantial potential for enhancing the teaching and learning of problem solving in schools and provides an excellent opportunity for teachers, educators, and researchers to harness their skills and competencies to improve mathematics teaching and learning.