Experiences of Mathematics Teachers of a Test Preparation Center during Professional Development for Incorporating Critical Thinking Skills into Their Practice

Abstract

Higher order thinking skills have an important role in conceptual understanding of mathematics and development of these skills are often emphasized in mathematics curricula. In Turkey, with the new emphasis of higher order mathematical thinking skills in national high-stake university entrance exams as well as the curricula, teachers needed to change their instruction to address critical thinking, problem solving and reasoning both in schools and test-preparation centers. In the Turkish context, teachers in test preparation centers do not usually receive professional development. This study aimed to examine the experiences of 7 mathematics teachers working in a test preparation center during a professional development program for assessment, critical thinking and higher order mathematical thinking skills, to understand their perceptions of critical thinking and incorporation of it into instruction. Meetings with teachers were held two days a week, for 12 weeks to work on assessment and integration of these skills into instruction. Data was collected in three stages via individual semi-structured interviews and open-ended reflection questions. The findings reflect how participants were able to internalize the relationship between critical thinking and higher order thinking skills. Results suggest that integrating critical thinking and higher order thinking skills to an assessment focused professional development program allowed teachers to experience critical thinking process and engage in teaching critical thinking, in the socio-cultural context of test preparation centers.

Keywords

• critical thinking in mathematics education
• higher order thinking skills
• mathematics teacher education
• professional development

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