Transforming Saudi mathematics education culture: An arts-based critical auto-ethnographic inquiry

Pre-service mathematics teachers in Saudi Arabia learn about student-centred teaching approaches to use in their professional teaching practice. However, many are not interested in implementing those approaches. Based on an Arts-based critical auto/ethnographic inquiry, I propose that Saudi future mathematics teachers need to engage in ‘transformative learning’; to think reflectively and critically about their own learning experiences, their beliefs about teaching and learning, their personal epistemology and their view about the nature of mathematics

The Effect of Implementation of Inquiry-based Learning with Socio-scientific Issues on Students' Higher-Order Thinking Skills

This study investigates the effect of inquiry-based learning with socio-scientific issues on students' higher-order thinking skills in the first year based on chemistry topics. This study used a quasi-experiment design as a method. A sample of 96 students in three classes was selected and was divided into two groups. An experimental group used two classes (68 students) that received the instruction by inquiry-based learning with socio-scientific issues, while the control group (28 students) received instruction using verification learning. The data were collected using pretest and post-test. The results were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 for windows software by employing ANOVA and effect size. This study showed that the experimental groups have a higher score in Higher Order Thinking Skills than the control group students, and there was a significant difference between the experimental groups and the control group with a large effect size. Thus, this study concluded that inquiry-based learning with socio-scientific issues helps conduct the classroom's learning strategies to improve students' higher-order thinking skills

Analysis of Student Learning Barriers in Fractional Multiplication: A Hermeneutics Phenomenology Study in Higher Education

Multiplication of fractions is one of the operations on fractions that tends to be easy, but it becomes a problem for students. Only a little previous research has examined the multiplication of fractions and the factors that cause this problem at the tertiary level. This study aims to describe the factors that cause problems in terms of the types of learning barriers that students experience. The research design is hermeneutics phenomenology. The participants in this study were 15 students aged 18-25 years, 7 boys and 8 girls, 9 students majoring in natural sciences during high school, and 6 students from social studies majors. The researcher is the main instrument, with a fraction multiplication test consisting of 2 questions developed by NCTM and a semi-structured interview guide as an additional instrument. Data is processed using NVivo-12-assisted thematic analysis to simplify the coding process. The study revealed that students experienced more learning difficulties when working on non-routine fraction multiplication problems. For routine problems, students experience learning difficulties with the type of ontogenic obstacle that is psychological (not careful). For non-routine problems, students experience learning barriers with epistemological types because they rarely work on word problems, as well as ontogenic obstacles that are conceptual and psychological