Effectiveness of implementing inquiry-based learning in teaching mathematics among pre-service teachers in Hong Kong

This research study was aimed to investigate Hong Kong mathematics pre-service teachers’ effectiveness in implementing inquiry-based learning in teaching, to examine their knowledge and skill level for developing and executing inquiry-based learning lessons, and to suggest various ways for future improvement on the IBL enrichment for pre-service teachers.
A questionnaire on the fulfillment of the 4D implementation model of mathematics inquiry by mathematics pre-service teachers was adapted from the inquiry instruction scale created by Learning Point Associates (Margolin, Brown & Miller, 2008) and the assessment checklist introduced by Fielding-Wells and Makar (2010), and an interview was designed to explore pre-service teachers’ preference on teaching approaches and the difficulties they encountered with inquiry-based learning lessons. 37 mathematics pre-service teachers studying in the Education University of Hong Kong undertook the questionnaire and 4 mathematics pre-service teachers were selected to do the interview.
The findings of this research study showed that pre-service teachers were unfamiliar with the fundamental elements of inquiry-based learning in mathematics: the five major issues of inquiry-based learning in mathematics and the three design principles for developing an inquiry-based learning mathematics curriculum. Therefore, their effectiveness in each implementation phase of the 4D model is unsatisfactory. To improve the overall situation, pre-service teachers are recommended to have further enhancement on inquiry-based learning to elevate their knowledge, skills and experience with the implementation of IBL in mathematics teaching.