Primary school pre-service teachers’ solutions to pattern problem-solving tasks based on three components of creativity

Abstract

Education stakeholders and researchers in South Africa have emphasised the need to enhance teachers’ creativity through problem-solving tasks. Teachers’ creativity entails using new ideas of creative devices to solve problems, implement solutions, and make learning more effective. In the research reported on here, Guilford’s theory was used to explore primary school pre-service teachers’ solutions to pattern problem-solving tasks based on 3 components of creativity. The data for this research were produced from primary school pre-service teachers’ written responses to the pattern problem-solving tasks, and an extract from participants’ semi-structured interviews. The research involved a qualitative design using convenient purposive sampling to sample 62 pre-service teachers enrolled for a primary mathematics module at a selected higher education institution. Participants’ responses to the written tasks were analysed using content analysis, while the semi-structured interviews were analysed thematically. The result shows that 35 participants were able to draw patterns and express patterns in nth form, while 27 failed to do so. The most common method used to draw a new pattern was counting in 2s and 4s. Furthermore, the result shows that half of the pre-service teachers who participated in the study were not capable of producing varied solutions to pattern tasks. An indication that they did not have the creative potential to prepare learners even after they had been exposed to advanced mathematics content as part of their training process. We recommend that pre service teacher education programmes should include academic activities that could help pre-service teachers enhance creativity through tasks with divergent thinking.