Investigating the use of problem-solving approach (PSA) in the teaching of Mathematics at the Basic school Level

Abstract

This study sought to find out whether Problem Solving Approach (PSA) is being used to teach Mathematics at the Basic School level in Kwahu West Municipality and Ghana as a whole. Simple random sampling was used to select the prospective respondents for good representation. A total of 62 respondents participated in the study made up of mathematics teachers and Circuit Supervisors. Questionnaires, unstructured interviews and observations were used to collect the data and analyzed using simple tables, charts and percentages. The study revealed that most mathematics teachers do not understand what is meant by “teaching through PSA” and referred to “teaching for PSA” instead. Respondents gave reasons for teacher inability to teach through PSA as: difficulty in using PSA to teach, time constraint and lack of knowledge about the use of PSA to teach mathematics. The study recommends amongst other things that the need for re-training, INSET and orientation of the teachers’ minds to enable mathematics teachers include Problem Solving Approach (PSA) in their teaching methods.