Assessing Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers’ Understanding in Inductive and Deductive Reasoning in Mathematics Application

Prince Kusi; Ebenezer Bonyah; Emmanuel Teku; Sampson Kwame Effah

Prince Kusi
Ebenezer Bonyah
Emmanuel Teku
Sampson Kwame Effah

Keywords: pre-service mathematics teachers, manipulatives, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning

Abstract

Inductive reasoning is a key strategy for knowledge creation, problem solving, and generalization in mathematics education. Deductive reasoning, on the other hand, is the process of using logically sound methods to derive a true conclusion from a given set of premises. If the conclusion and the premises are both true, deductive validity of the conclusion is established. However, the application of inductive and deductive reasoning in teaching mathematical research at colleges of education in Ghana has not received much academic attention. Therefore, the study sort to explore pre-service teachers’ understanding of inductive and deductive reasoning in teaching the mathematics (series and sequence). The research approach was mixed methods with sequential explanatory as its design. The study employed stratified and simple random sampling techniques to select a sample size of 237. The data were collected from a questionnaire administered to 237 pre-service mathematics teachers. Again, 6 pre-service mathematics teachers were selected for an interview to expand their views on inductive and deductive application of mathematics. Through the thematic analysis method, it was found that pre-service mathematics teachers perceived inductive reasoning as a process for moving from the particular to the general and deductive reasoning as general to particular and as a way to acquire mathematical knowledge through questioning. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation) were used to analyze the survey data, and the qualitative data from the respondents underwent thematic data analysis. Results indicated that, although incorporating both inductive and deductive reasoning improved mathematics teaching and learning that pre-service teachers need professional learning experiences geared towards using both inductive reasoning and deductive processes and tasks to form concepts and generalizations in mathematics. It is recommended that, policy makers provide varieties of instructional resources, including textbooks, online tools, and manipulatives, that can support pre-service teachers in implementing effective inductive and deductive reasoning activities in their teachings.

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