Literature Review:

“In reality, no one can teach mathematics. Effective teachers are those who can stimulate
students to learn mathematics. Educational research offers compelling evidence that students
learn mathematics well only when they construct their own mathematical understanding.” This is
the bold assertion by Douglas H. Clements and Michael T. Battista in their article Constructivist
Learning and Teaching published in the Arithmetic Teacher.
Yet for our education system to function, the beginning mathematics teacher must be trained to
teach. As such the twelve weeks practicum which the Kursus Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah[KPLI]
students undergo during their second semester is designed to ensure the trainee teachers are
equipped with the required teaching methodologies when they are posted to the
schools. In the Pedagogy of
Mathematics component in their syllabus, they have been exposed to techniques acknowledged
as conducive to effective learning by pupils like the constructivist approach, the discovery
approach, inductive and deductive approach, cooperative learning and questioning
techniques.
Taking a constructivist perspective appears to imply two major goals for mathematics
instruction (Cobb 1988). First, students should develop mathematical structures that are more
complex, abstract, and powerful than the ones they currently possess. Second, students should
become autonomous and self-motivated in their mathematical activity.
The discovery approach is part of a paradigm shift to learning whereby teachers are exhorted to
teach less yet the learners learn more, to engage the learners and prepare them for life, rather
than teaching for tests and examinations.
Induction is that form of reasoning in which a general law is derived from a study of particular
objects or specific processes. The student feels interested as they are actively involved in
experiments, experiences and discoveries. This method fosters independence and self-confidence
in the pupil. Deduction is the method in which
the law is accepted and then applied to a number of specific examples. This method emphasizes
memory, as the students have to memorize a considerable number of formulae and definitions.
It is hope that the trainees will practice these effective teaching methods during their practicum
period. As such when they are posted to the schools, they begin their career equipped with the
necessary teaching tools to be effective teachers.