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international journal of instruction january 2019 vol 12 no 1 e issn 1308 1470 www e iji net p issn 1694 609x pp 371 388 received 09 05 2018 revision ...

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                                     International Journal of Instruction                              January 2019 ● Vol.12, No.1 
                                     e-ISSN: 1308-1470 ● www.e-iji.net                                      p-ISSN: 1694-609X 
                                                                                                                                   pp. 371-388 
                                                                                                                         Received: 09/05/2018 
                                                                                                                          Revision: 01/08/2018  
                                                                                                                         Accepted: 07/08/2018 
                                                                                                                       OnlineFirst: 04/11/2018 
                                      
                                     Assessing  Eighth-Grade  Mathematics  Teachers  and  Textbook  in 
                                     Embodying Thinking Levels 
                                      
                                     Mohammad Ahmad Alkhateeb  
                                     The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan, mkm7879@hu.edu.jo 
                                      
                                            
                                            The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of embodying thinking levels in 
                                           the  eighth-grade  textbook  and  teachers’  classroom  questions  and  exams.  Five 
                                           teachers  who  teach  eighth  grade  were  chosen  from  schools  that  obtained  the 
                                           highest  and  lowest  TIMSS  results  in  Zarqa  City,  Jordan.  Textbook  content 
                                           analysis,  teachers’  classroom  observation  and  exam  questions  were  assessed 
                                           according  to  the  triadic  classification  of  thinking  levels  (knowledge  and 
                                           understanding,  application  and  inference).  The  findings  concerning  textbooks 
                                           revealed that the knowledge and understanding level obtained the highest means 
                                           (67.5%–81%), followed by the application level  (14.3%–24.1%)  and questions 
                                           measuring  inference  level  (analysis  4.7%–6.3%),  composition  (0%–1.5%), 
                                           evaluation (0%). Questions prepared by the teachers in the exams that measured 
                                           knowledge  and  understanding  ranked  first  in  both  the  highest-  and  lowest-
                                           performance schools. Both categories of schools achieved roughly the same rate in 
                                           terms of application level. Nevertheless, the inference average rate was higher in 
                                           the  higher-performance  schools.  In  general,  the  focus  of  evaluative  practices, 
                                           classroom questions and discussions was on the lower thinking levels, with the 
                                           lowest rates being achieved by the low-performing schools. 
                                     Keywords: assessment instruments, classroom interaction, teaching practices, thinking 
                                     levels, TIMSS 
                                     INTRODUCTION 
                                     Thinking is one of the most complicated processes, and has multiple ramifications and 
                                     patterns.  It  is  an  organized  brain  activity  used  for  problem  solving,  creativity  in 
                                     decision-making,  or  information  analysis  and  the  drawing  of  proper  conclusions. 
                                     Planning and development are conducted through thinking, as well as the optimal use of 
                                     asking “How, When, Why” questions, which contribute to opening new perspectives for 
                                     learners, and enhancing the ability to employ and obtain information from diversified 
                                     sources (Rashid & Qaisar, 2016). Teaching thinking and associated skills has become an 
                                     urgent  need.  Accordingly,  the  slogans  of  student  teaching,  i.e.  “How  to  teach”  and 
                                     “Teach him how to think”, have gained special importance as they hold very important 
                                     Citation: Alkhateeb, M. A. (2019). Assessing Eighth-Grade Mathematics Teachers and Textbook in 
                                     Embodying      Thinking    Levels.    International    Journal    of   Instruction,    12(1),   371-388. 
                                     https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2019.12125a 
                                                                                                                                               
             372                    Assessing Eighth-Grade Mathematics Teachers and Textbook in … 
              
             future implications (Gencal, 2017). The learner’s ability is measured by their ability to 
             learn and their intellectual abilities to do so. 
             Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, and Krathwohl (1956) classified t intellectual levels to 
             help teachers in planning educational goals and experiences, along with examinations in 
             a gradual hierarchical form, which fits the needs of learners and individual differences. 
             The  levels  are  knowledge,  understanding,  application,  analysis,  composition  and 
             evaluation. Each of these levels is a prerequisite of the level next to it. Many educational 
             research works have been interested in reviewing and studying these levels, including 
             Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) and Krathwohl (202) and Clark (2010). They indicated 
             that students’ ability to apply learned knowledge is the best evidence of understanding 
             and comprehension. 
             In this current study, the researcher followed a triadic classification for the cognitive 
             process and related thinking levels.  The first  level  is  knowledge  and  understanding, 
             which includes the low levels in Bloom’s taxonomy. It is represented by defining the 
             facts and concepts a student has stored in their memory, providing reasons for different 
             ideas,  and  the  ability  to  provide  explanations  for  phenomena.  The  second  level  is 
             application,  which  is  represented  by  employing  the  acquired  knowledge  in  new 
             situations. The final and third level is inference, which includes higher levels in Bloom’s 
             classification  (analysis,  composition  and  evaluation).  These  are  represented  by  the 
             ability to rebuild, assemble and divide the whole into parts, detect the connectedness 
             method of each part to another, and carry out comparisons, issue judgments and problem 
             solving.  
             It is worth mentioning here that this classification of the cognitive process is the same as 
             that applied in the TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) (Martin, Mullis, 
             Foy,  &  Stanco,  2012).  Moreover,  in  the  TIMSS  (2015),  35%  was  allocated  to 
             knowledge and understanding, 35% to application and 30% to inference. 
             With the increase in the studies concerned with thinking, due to its importance and 
             effects in both the teaching and learning processes, the view for curricula shifted from 
             focusing on the knowledge structure to curricula focusing on thinking and dealing with 
             knowledge. The maths curriculum is characterized by a special characteristic, i.e. it is 
             concerned with knowledge and employing it in the learner’s life through discovery and 
             investigations (Cathcart, Pothier, Vance, & Bezuk, 2011). Wallace (2011) stated that 
             educational  trends  assert  the  importance  of  learners’  acquiring  thinking  levels  and 
             practices, and of teachers adopting and employing teaching methods that stimulate the 
             learner, and increase their effectiveness by giving them the opportunity to think and 
             investigate. 
             This is also emphasized by Kilday (2010), who underlined the need for including goals 
             in the maths curriculum that focus on thinking levels, such as prediction, interference, 
             analysis,  data  interpreting,  thought  testing  and  evaluation.  The  curriculaum  should 
             further  include  investigation  methods  and  activities  that  allow  students  sufficient 
             opportunities  to  initiate  knowledge.  Similarly,  evaluation  methods  and  instruments 
             should  include  sufficient  knowledge  to  fulfil  the  requirements  of  thinking  levels. 
                      International Journal of Instruction, January 2019 ● Vol.12, No.1 
              Alkhateeb                           373 
             Accordingly,  schoolbooks  content  analysis  processes  based  on  a  number  of  defined 
             criteria are a vehicle used to judge the extent to which these books include sufficient 
             amounts of cognitive processes, and achieve suitable intellectual levels for each stage. 
             On the other hand, Asuman and Oylum (2007) saw that the use of modern methods and 
             instruments  in  teaching  provides  students  with  a  basic  role  in  the  learning  process. 
             Gruber and Boreen (2003) stressed the need to pay special attention to the thinking 
             levels,  and  employ  them  in  learning  and  teaching  situations.  This  underlines  the 
             teacher’s role in helping the students develop thinking levels. In this regard, Bufford 
             (2011) maintained that the teacher’s behaviour, which encourages the students’ thinking, 
             affects the self-concept of the students and their thinking processes.  
             Barak and Shakhman (2008) said that the influencing factors in teachers’ dealing with 
             thinking  are:  strategic,  descriptive  knowledge  of  the  thinking  concept  and  levels; 
             practical use of teaching strategies concerning strengthening the higher-thinking levels; 
             teachers’ notions of their students’ ability to acquire the highest possible thinking levels; 
             and the self-perception of the teaching process toward thinking processes.  
             Undoubtedly, asking questions inside the classroom and homework assigned to students 
             play  a  vital  role  in  upgrading  the  learning  process.  These  help  the  student  ingrain 
             information. The benefit is clear in asking students to carry out homework and prepare 
             research work, whether individually or collectively, that develops cognitive levels, and 
             in training them to be self-sufficient in terms of understanding, thinking and analysing. 
             In this regard, asking classroom questions is a major part of teaching levels, and one of 
             the assessment instruments that forms an actual challenge for learners. Questions asked 
             during the lesson period affect the formation of thinking levels (Rashid & Qaisar, 2016). 
             Quite  recently,  the  wide  interest  in  asking  oral  questions  and  their  role  in  teaching 
             became  clear,  particularly  questions  that  emphasize  developing  thinking  levels  and 
             problem solving (Sprague, 2008). 
             The homework students do, which is an expansion of the educational activities in the 
             classroom, is a complementary part or application of what has been carried out and 
             discussed  in  the  classroom.  Homework  varies  according  to  the  lessons  and  desired 
             objectives, and the differences in the students’ nature and abilities. Bufford (2011) saw 
             that the objectives of the various homework are different from each other. Some aim to 
             approach principles or relations among thoughts, and some aim to provide opportunities 
             for the students to think. 
             The assessment process and its instruments are a major element that enhances students’ 
             thinking and develops their skills. Researchers are interested in developing methods and 
             approaches that guide and direct the assessment processes, in a manner that corresponds 
             to the nature of the activities and thinking-provoking duties. Assessment is also a major 
             component of the teaching process, because the quality of the assessment is down to the 
             teacher,  and  their  assessment  results  contribute  to  the  optimization  of  the  teaching 
             process in terms of its objectives, means and techniques (Little, 2009). 
                      International Journal of Instruction, January2019 ● Vol.12, No.1 
                                    374                    Assessing Eighth-Grade Mathematics Teachers and Textbook in … 
                                     
                                    It  is  apparent  from  the  above  viewpoints  that  the  learner’s  thinking  levels  can  be 
                                    developed,  and  a  helping  hand  can  be  extended  to  them  to  take  them  out  of  their 
                                    stagnation to an active state of learning. Such a shift can be achieved through using 
                                    assessment instruments that encourage their thinking, and enrich their thoughts, which 
                                    turns them into a researcher depending on research and discovery (Carla & Sandra, 
                                    2014). 
                                    In the light of the trends in international tests for maths and science (TIMSS) in the 
                                    years 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, in which Jordan participated, all indicators showed a 
                                    decline of eighth-graders performance level in the different cognition areas (knowledge 
                                    and understanding, application, interference), which was below the international average 
                                    (National Center for Human Resources Development, 2017). Which required a study to 
                                    be carried out on the focus of the maths curriculum, teaching methods and assessment 
                                    instruments employed in developing these levels, in an attempt to contribute to raising 
                                    the students’ thinking levels. 
                                    Study Problem 
                                    The issue of thinking teaching in the educational process is of vast importance. Results 
                                    of the TIMSS (2015) showed that the average number of degrees gained by Jordanian 
                                    students was 386/1000, i.e. 20 lower than the 2011 round, 21 lower than the 2007 round, 
                                    18 lower than the 2003 round and 22 lower than the repetition round in 1999 (Mullis & 
                                    Martin, 2015). Such results call for deep attention, concern and investigation into the 
                                    reasons for these averages, which are below the general international average of the 
                                    participant countries. The researcher hopes that we shall partially identify these reasons 
                                    through the focus of this study on analysing the maths schoolbook for the basic eighth 
                                    grade. In addition, the study will also focus on the assessment item and the objectives it 
                                    contains,  which  measures  the  thinking  levels,  description  and  analyses  of  the  maths 
                                    teachers’ exams, as well as the description of the classroom discussions and analyses to 
                                    detect the concentration degree in developing the students’ thinking levels. As such, this 
                                    study will investigate and explore the assessment instruments used by the maths teachers 
                                    of the basic eighth graders in developing their students’' thinking levels. However, the 
                                    study problem is defined through the following questions: 
                                         1.   What  is  the  extent  of  concentration  of  the  assessment  items  in  the  eighth 
                                              graders’ maths book on the thinking levels aspect? 
                                         2.   What  is  the  extent  of  concentration  of  the  maths  teachers’  questions  and 
                                              classroom discussion on developing their students’ thinking levels? 
                                         3.   What is the extent of concentration of the maths teachers’ exams on developing 
                                              their students’ thinking levels? 
                                                             International Journal of Instruction, January 2019 ● Vol.12, No.1 
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...International journal of instruction january vol no e issn www iji net p x pp received revision accepted onlinefirst assessing eighth grade mathematics teachers and textbook in embodying thinking levels mohammad ahmad alkhateeb the hashemite university zarqa jordan mkm hu edu jo aim this study was to investigate extent classroom questions exams five who teach were chosen from schools that obtained highest lowest timss results city content analysis observation exam assessed according triadic classification knowledge understanding application inference findings concerning textbooks revealed level means followed by measuring composition evaluation prepared measured ranked first both performance categories achieved roughly same rate terms nevertheless average higher general focus evaluative practices discussions on lower with rates being low performing keywords assessment instruments interaction teaching introduction is one most complicated processes has multiple ramifications patterns it ...

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