The Dearth of Development in Mathematical Thinking Among High School Leavers

Abstract

The prime rationale of the high school math curriculum is to develop the intellectual mind of learners who can think and apply learnt content into solving problems of different areas of learning. Thus, to assess this context, a mixedmethod approach was undertaken to assess the levels of the 640 High school leavers’ mathematical thinking acumen in the context of their preparation in facing the challenges of tertiary level. The findings depict low-level mathematical thinking attainment regarding their dearth in critical thinking and creative thinking to solve higher-order thinking tasks. They lack a heuristics repertoire to use their contextual knowledge in solving fundamental nonroutine problems. This then begs the question: how are these students to face the upcoming hurdles and challenges bound to be thrown their way at the tertiary level? Keywords: Mathematical thinking, problem solving, non-routine, heuristics