The Development of Mathematics Teacher Training Curriculum for Vocational Certificate Curriculum of the Office of Vocational Education Commission Using Cooperative Learning

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to 1) develop and verify appropriateness of the instructional model for mathematic competency development of learners using cooperative learning, and to 2) develop and verify the mathematics teacher training curriculum for vocational certificate curriculum of the Office of Vocational Education Commission using cooperative learning. The subjects of this research were selected according to the set criteria, composing of mathematics teachers, their superiors, and learners, under the Office of Vocational Education Commission. It was found that; 1) The developed instructional model for learners’ mathematic competency development using cooperative learning consists of 3 elements namely; input, process and output, which was designed to have teachers organize mathematics learning process through the SPIRTA learning steps. There are 6 steps namely; (1) Stimulate Motivation, (2) Polish the Lesson, (3) Incubate Experience, (4) Reflective Thinking, (5) Test Knowledge, and (6) Application. The instructional model and details of each element was appropriate in the highest level. and to 2) The developed training curriculum consists of 8 elements. The training session takes 4 days with 7 topics. The evaluation of the developed training curriculum through the application of CIPP Model was found that (1) the evaluation of surrounding conditions was appropriate and the congruence of the training topics and the training objectives were higher than the set criteria, (2) the fundamental factors evaluation of the training curriculum revealed the appropriateness and congruence, and it also revealed efficiency when implemented both theory and practical sections, moreover the reliability of the test and evaluation forms was higher than the set criteria, (3) the results of process evaluation revealed that efficiency of theoretical part reached 86.90/86.90 and the practical part reached the average scores at 90.80 percent. The application of gained knowledge and skills to teaching and learning was in high and the highest level, besides, the opinions of trainees on the training sessions were appropriate in high level., and (4) For the following up for output evaluation, through the supervision of gained knowledge and skills implementation in teaching practice through lesson plan preparation and actual teaching, the average scores were 94.98 and 92.65 percent, respectively. Moreover, the evaluation based on opinions of superiors and satisfaction of learners on the application of gained knowledge and skills to the teaching organization of the teachers were in the highest and high level respectively.