<p style="text-align: justify;">Internal and external assessment instruments, such as the Vanuatu Standard Test of Achievements (VANSTA) and the Pacific Island Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (PILNA), reveal that mathematics achievements in the Republic of Vanuatu remain below the minimum standard. This study drew on the constructivist grounded theory approach to explore teachers' perspectives of the learning and teaching processes in mathematics education in the Republic of Vanuatu. Specifically, the focus was on the ‘I do-we do-you do’ approach of teaching, which is common in mathematics education in the country. Teachers' opinions about the current situation of mathematics education and possibilities for improving it were extracted using semi-structured interviews with 22 teachers from two randomly selected urban schools. Based on the constructivist grounded theory analysis, four major interlink themes were found. Overall, the findings show that mathematics achievements in the country can be improved through proven discovery-learning strategies for stimulating students' mathematical thinking in the 21st century, such as the ‘try-understand-apply-mastered’ (TUAM) discovery learning process.</p>
There are multiple factors contributing to the low level of mathematics in basic education in the Republic of Vanuatu. Results through the Vanuatu Standard Test of Achievement (VANSTA) in 2017 and 2019 unveiled that there were gaps in the performance of mathematics which cause the overall achievement to stagnant which were below the expected minimum standard (Curriculum Development Unit, 2020). This study investigated the current situation of the teaching mathematics approach in the country recognised as the ‘I Do-We Do-You Do’ teaching model. In comparison, the study also examined the influence of the ‘Try-Understand-Apply-Master’ (TUAM) discovery learning process on students in Vanuatu. The study compared these two teaching approaches through pre and post-test interventions among the control and experimental group of two grade five classes. The findings of the study discovered a possibility that the TUAM discovery learning process could be effective in improving the mathematics level in the basic education in the Republic of Vanuatu.
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