Education Program at Farhangian University of Guilan in Solving a Non-Routine Mathematical Problem According to Diploma Type
Keywords:
Student-teacher, Elementary education, Non-routine problem solving, Diploma type, Addition problemAbstract
This study aimed to examine and compare the performance of student-teachers in the Bachelor of Elementary Education program at Farhangian University of Guilan in solving a non-routine mathematical problem involving the addition of numbers according to their high-school diploma type. This descriptive-survey study was conducted among all 215 first-year female student-teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of Elementary Education program at Farhangian University of Guilan during the 2024–2025 academic year. The final sample comprised 160 participants selected through proportional cluster random sampling, including 70 students with literature and humanities diplomas, 60 with experimental sciences diplomas, and 30 with mathematics-physics diplomas. Data were collected using a non-routine mathematical problem in the content area of addition. Participants’ responses were coded into six problem-solving levels: non-response, purely additive, transition, procedural, novice, and mature. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was applied to assess normality, and because the data were non-normally distributed, the Kruskal–Wallis test was used in SPSS to compare performance across diploma groups. The Kruskal–Wallis test revealed a statistically significant difference in non-routine problem-solving performance among student-teachers with literature and humanities, experimental sciences, and mathematics-physics diplomas (H=13.644, df=2, p=.001). The mean ranks were 66.03 for literature and humanities, 88.49 for experimental sciences, and 98.28 for mathematics-physics. Thus, student-teachers with mathematics-physics diplomas demonstrated the highest performance, whereas those with literature and humanities diplomas exhibited the lowest performance. Diploma type was significantly associated with student-teachers’ ability to solve the non-routine mathematical problem. The superior performance of the mathematics-physics group suggests that the extent and nature of mathematics education at the upper-secondary level may contribute to subsequent problem-solving preparedness. Accordingly, teacher-education programs should place greater emphasis on developing higher-order thinking and non-routine problem-solving skills and provide student-teachers with more systematic opportunities to engage with such problems.
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