Developing Critical Thinking among Students: A Qualitative Study on Teachers' Art of Questioning in Mathematics

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Teachers' instincts often tell them that they should use investigational mathematics more often in their teaching, but are sometimes disappointed with the outcomes when they try it. There are two common reasons for this. One is that the children are inexperienced in this approach and find it difficult to accept responsibility for the decision making required and need a lot of practice to develop organized or systematic approaches. The other reason is that the teachers have yet to develop a questioning style that guides, supports and stimulates the children without removing the responsibility for the problem-solving process from the children.

The foregoing statements led the researcher to go on with this study. She wants all teachers, particularly from the area of mathematics have more skills in asking questions to students since it is an art that kindles the students to be more effective learners by making use of their higher order thinking skills. Also, the kind of knowledge students construct and communicate during a mathematics lesson may be dependent on teachers questioning. With this, students understanding of mathematics through questions thrown by the teachers will be enhanced.

METHODS

A qualitative research design in the form of the interview was used to gather the necessary data for this research. Interviewing with the students handled by the participants was also considered as a source of data gathering.

RESULTS

The findings show that the number of years in teaching mathematics affects the pattern of questioning of the participants; the longer the time they have been in the teaching profession, the better the pattern of questioning they execute in class.

DISCUSSIONS

There should be a support system for teachers who are new in the profession. This support system must be composed of those who are experienced and had attended various training in teaching pedagogy.

Teachers who are just new should not be assigned to a group of low performing students to avoid culture shock. They still need time to adjust. The Department of Education should conduct seminars and workshops regarding the teacher's art of questioning.