What is it about?
This study explored what Ghanaian student teachers value in college mathematics learning. A cross-sectional survey involving 180 student teachers from College of Education in Ghana was conducted using the What I Find Important (WIFI) in mathematics learning questionnaire. The study employed principal component analysis with Oblimin rotation and one-way multivariate analysis of variance in analyzing the data gathered. Among the findings, it was found that student teachers value exploration, connections, understanding, and fluency in their study of college mathematics. Also, the findings of the study revealed a statistically significant difference in what student teachers value in college mathematics learning across college class levels. To facilitate a clearer understanding of valuing in the colleges of education in Ghana, it is considered important to establish through research the values of teacher educators regarding college mathematics learning and teaching, and how these values reflect what student teachers value and those values espoused in the new 4-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) curriculum in Ghana.
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Why is it important?
This study calls attention to the values that student teachers at the College of Education in Ghana consider critical and important in mathematics education, and stimulates dialogue among the scientific community on how to meet these value needs of the student teachers through decision-making in classroom instruction. The findings would help teacher educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers to help better understand the local context. The study is timely, given that this knowledge of what student teachers value in mathematics learning at the College of Education in Ghana would help us to better plan the implementation of the new 4-year B.Ed. mathematics curriculum which envisioned instilling the needed competencies through teacher education.
Perspectives
It is a great pleasure to be part of a study that provides a useful starting point for developing an evidence base on what student teachers at the college of education (tertiary level) value in mathematics learning across college class levels in Ghana. Thus, contributing to the existing literature by furthering what researchers know about values and valuing; specifically focusing on what tertiary students value in the learning of mathematics.
Patrick Kyeremeh
St. Joseph's College of Education
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Values in college mathematics learning: Student teachers’ preference, Asian Journal for Mathematics Education, September 2023, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/27527263231199178.
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