The Perceptions of Teachers and Students on a 21st Century Mathematics Instructional Model

Steve Warner,Abtar Kaur

doi:10.29333/iejme/609

Abstract

Facilitating learning at all levels of the education stratum to create effective 21st Century knowledge creators, inventors and innovative workers is increasingly recognized today as a primary objective of education. Presently, the rapid expansion and availability of knowledge indicates the importance of curriculum and instructions that will empower learners to process knowledge using learner centered strategies rather than merely memorizing facts infused by facilitators. The study applied a qualitative research design. Interviews were completed on teachers and students to determine their perceptions on the effectiveness of the 2T2C model. Teachers’ perceptions indicated that they gained a better perspective from the teaching and learning classroom environment; high-order questioning and thinking were accomplished; the relationship between mathematics through real-world questions was realized by students; communication improved through planned cooperative and collaboration sessions; the use of technology as a resource both in and out of class provided a framework for communication and thinking; and students’ confidence and self-efficacy improved as they took responsibility for their learning. This paper presents how the 2T2C Model was conceptualized and reports on teachers’ and students’ perceptions on the model.

Highlights

Education devoid of teaching and learning of thinking skills and discontextualized learning environments, is merely knowledge gathering and remembering
The goal of this paper is to present a model which will equip and inform educators with some of the skills and competencies needed to create an environment for facilitating learning, where thinking creatively, critically and innovatively, as well as other important skills, are major objectives of 21st century education
The 2T2C Model (Thinking, Technology, Communication and Confidence), has proven that it can aid in transforming classroom settings and assist in improving learners‟ creative, inventive and innovative thinking, indicative of pedagogy and technologies, to accomplish the dissemination of skills and competencies fitted for the 21st Century learner (Warner, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

Education devoid of teaching and learning of thinking skills and discontextualized learning environments, is merely knowledge gathering and remembering. The goal of this paper is to present a model which will equip and inform educators with some of the skills and competencies needed to create an environment for facilitating learning, where thinking creatively, critically and innovatively, as well as other important skills, are major objectives of 21st century education. Despite all of this being done and instructional information placed in documents and sent to schools, the traditional modality of teachercentered instruction continues as the major instructional approach This is due to the summative high-stake assessment which awaits students at the end of secondary school. The use of social and cognitive constructivism formed the basis of the theoretical framework It has become imperative in the 21st century that students be taught or facilitated differently in schools via instructional strategies and techniques (Friedman, 2007). It is crucial to report the effects of the new model from teachers and students

Literature Review

Research Methodology

Result and Analysis