Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of Using Metacognitive Skills in Teaching and Learning Mathematics

Abstract

In the present research, we educated mathematics pre-service teachers in using metacognition in their teaching of mathematics. This education was performed in one-year and was part of the participants’ practical training in the training schools and in the frame of a reflection-based course related to the practical training. We studied the development of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of using metacognition in teaching and learning mathematics. Twenty four pre-service teachers participated in the preparation. They were in their third academic year majoring in teaching mathematics and computer science in middle schools. We held interviews with the participating pre-service teachers twice, once at the beginning of the preparation and once at the end of it. To analyze the interview transcripts, we used inductive and deductive content analysis. The research results indicate that the participants developed their perceptions regarding metacognition and its use in students’ learning, but at the same time, due to the time pressure, they intend to use mainly the ‘planning skill’ in their teaching of mathematics.