Pre-service mathematics teachers’ mathematization process in solving geometry problems

Abstract

Abstract This exploratory qualitative case study design aims to examine the mathematization process employed by pre-service mathematics teachers during instruction grounded in Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) within Plane Geometry. It was studied as this shall have a cascading effect on the teaching–learning of schools. Carried out at a teacher education college in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, the study used 27 pre-service mathematics teachers, who constituted one class as participants. The methods of data collection encompassed observation, informal discussions, and semi-structured interviews. The findings pinpoint significant progress, persistent challenges, and possible barriers to integrating realist mathematical artifacts and conceptions in class. Through the RME-centric mathematization instruction, these pre-service mathematics teachers crafted individual problem-solving strategies for comprehensive word problems relating to plane geometry and real-life contexts. Impressively, some participants even managed to leverage alternative equations and theorems not covered in the course materials. However, challenges emerged. The breadth of content, the nature of the curriculum, and specific limitations in the pre-service teachers' proficiencies were underscored as potential hurdles in the pre-service mathematics teacher's mathematization process to draw conjectures and mathematical concept formulations, including deriving relations among geometry concepts while solving geometry problems.