Analysis of teachers' knowledge to support students in solving mathematical problems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37870/joqie.v16i27.540Keywords:
Problem solving, knowledge for teaching, mathematical activity, optimization, functionAbstract
This research aims to identify the knowledge possessed by secondary school teachers that enables them to support students in mathematical problem-solving. The participating teachers completed an exploratory questionnaire. The theoretical framework is based on Shulman (1986) and Ball et al. (2008), which emphasize the importance of teachers’ knowledge in effectively guiding students through problem-solving.
The results show that teachers tend to prioritize procedural knowledge over deep analytical work, leading students to struggle with mastering certain concepts whose meaning is developed through a variety of situations. These findings highlight the need to adapt teaching strategies and provide targeted interventions through continuous teacher training, in order to truly foster students’ problem-solving skills in mathematics.
References
Artzt, A. F., & Armour-Thomas, E. (1992). Development of a Cognitive-Metacognitive Framework
for Protocol Analysis of Mathematical Problem Solving in Small Groups. JSTOR
Ball, D. L., Thames, M. H., & Phelps, G. (2008). Content knowledge for teaching: What makes it
special? Journal of Teacher Education, 59(5), 389-407.
21
Benjelloun, S. (2019). L'enseignement des mathématiques au Maroc : entre tradition et innovation.
Revue Marocaine de Didactique des Mathématiques, 12(1), 45-62.
Confrey, J. (1990). A Review of the Research on Student Conceptions in Mathematics, Science,
and Programming. ERIC
Conseil Supérieur de l'Éducation, de la Formation et de la Recherche Scientifique. (2015). Vision
Stratégique de la Réforme 2015-2030.
Fennema, E., & Franke, M. L. (1992). Teachers' knowledge and its impact on students'
achievement. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and
learning (pp. 147-164). Macmillan. akes it special? Journal of Teacher Education, 59(5),
389-407.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of CognitiveDevelopmental Inquiry. American Psychologist.
Hiebert, J., & Carpenter, T. P. (1992). Learning and teaching with understanding. In D. A. Grouws
(Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 65-97).
Hiebert, J., & Grouws, D. A. (2007). The effects of classroom mathematics teaching on students'
learning. In F. K. Lester Jr. (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching
and learning (pp. 371-404). Information Age Publishing. ResearchGate (Note: This specific
chapter is often cited but harder to find directly online; the ResearchGate link is for a
related work on understanding.)
Hiebert, J., & Wearne, D. (1993). Instructional Tasks, Classroom Discourse, and Students' Learning
in Second-Grade Arithmetic. JSTOR
Hill, H. C., Rowan, B., & Ball, D. L. (2005). Effects of Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for
Teaching on Student Achievement. American Educational Research Journal
Livingston, J. A. (1997). Metacognition: An Overview. ERIC
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and Standards for School
Mathematics. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Ouazzani, L. (2020). Analyse des erreurs des élèves du secondaire marocain en résolution de
problèmes arithmétiques. Journal de Didactique des Mathématiques, 7(2), 89-105.
Polya, G. (1945). How to solve it: A new aspect of mathematical method. Princeton University
Press.
Polya, G. (1957). How to solve it: A new aspect of mathematical method. Princeton University
Press.
Remillard, J. T. (2005). Examining Key Concepts in Research on Teachers' Use of Mathematics
Curricula. Review of Educational Research.
Schoenfeld, A. H. (1992). Learning to think mathematically: Problem solving, metacognition, and
sense making in mathematics. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics
teaching and learning (pp. 334-370).
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational
Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.
Skemp, R. R. (1976). Relational understanding and instrumental understanding. Mathematics
Teaching, 77, 20-26.
Vergnaud, G. (1996). The nature of mathematical concepts and their development through problem
solving. In L. P. Steffe, P. Nesher, P. Cobb, G. Goldin, & B. Greer
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 The Journal of Quality in Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
How to Cite
