Levels of Understanding and Skills of Mathematics Teachers in the Implementation of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in Teaching Mathematics in Secondary Schools

Abstract

Mathematics achievement among students in Malaysia in international assessment Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is still at a low level. Therefore, teachers need to play a major role in inculcating and applying Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) among students through various teaching strategies. The purpose of this study is to identify the level of understanding and skill in applying HOTS among secondary school mathematics teachers in Mukah, Sarawak. This survey study with a quantitative approach involved 28 mathematics teachers who were selected at random from three secondary schools in Mukah district, Sarawak who were selected as respondents. The questionnaire instrument will be used to obtain information related to this study and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 27.0 software. The findings of this study will be described in descriptive and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis was used to obtain frequency, percentage and mean. The results of the study show that the level of understanding of teachers in applying HOTS in mathematics teaching is high (mean = 3.53) while the level of skill of teachers in applying HOTS in mathematics teaching is moderate (mean = 3.37). Furthermore, Spearman rho will be used as an inferential analysis to identify the relationship between aspects of teachers' understanding and skills with the application of HOTS elements in mathematics teaching. The results of the study show that there is a significant and very strong positive relationship between the aspect of understanding and skills of mathematics teachers by applying HOTS elements in teaching mathematics (r(26) = 0.950, p<0.01). Overall, this study provides benefits and guidance to improve the quality of teacher teaching in terms of understanding and skills to implement HOTS elements in the teaching process through continuous professional development (CPD) and in-service training.