Problem Solving Schemes of Secondary School Mathematics Teachers. School of Educational Studies. University Sains Malaysia.

The purpose of this study is to determine the problem solving schemes among Form Two mathematics teachers. The subjects were asked to respond to five mathematics inventories regarding their conceptions towards mathematics and problem-solving in order to get some background information before they were involved in the clinical interviews. The majority of the subjects seemed to believe that mathematics is just a field of formal knowledge. They viewed mathematics from two different perspectives, perspectives of pure mathematics and perspectives of applied mathematics. They seemed to view mathematics as dualistic in nature. The majority of the subjects tend to believe that problem-solving was just a crucial component in school mathematics. They agreed on the importance of problem-solving in daily life and the difficulties encountered in making problem- solving the focus of teaching. However, each of them emphasized different aspects in his or her own classroom teaching. The subjects' focus of teaching relied on individual conceptions towards mathematics and conceptions toward problem-solving. The findings showed that some subjects emphasized manipulations of numbers and operations, basic concepts, and memorization of basic facts. While others focused on heuristics in problem solving which they viewed as similar to algorithmic solutions. Although some subjects viewed mathematics from a utility viewpoint, these aspects wer e not given due consideration in their classroom teaching. Their main purpose of teaching mathematics in school is to help students pass their examinations. Most of the subjects use their own experiences during students' time in carrying out teaching activities in classrooms. Their conceptions towards mathematics and conceptions towards problem-solving seemed to be inconsistent with their teaching practices in the classrooms.