A Descriptive Study on Improving of Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Reasoning: Learning Geometry through Mathematical Investigation

Abstract

This study uses a mathematical investigation strategy in teaching geometry to help prospective primary teachers enhance their mathematical reasoning abilities. Mathematical inquiry in this study involved non-routine tasks carried out as part of a mathematical research process, essentially a set of activities. Developing research subjects' mathematical reasoning abilities through their capacity to analyse, generalise, synthesise, rationalise, and resolve non-routine problems, which is operationally developed as a research indicator and employed as a criteria for assessing mathematical reasoning abilities. Research design using Quasi-Experimental design. Based on this type, the researchers apply a pre-and posttest design, which is divided into two study groups: control group and the treatment group. The number of research subjects were 111 students consisting of 56 students in the experimental group and 55 students in the control group. The conclusion of this study stated that (1) Investigation of mathematics as an approach to learning is able to give a positive response to the increasing ability of mathematical reasoning, and (2) There is no interaction effect of the factors of learning and prior knowledge of mathematics to the increased ability of mathematical reasoning.