Design and development of problem-solving activities in the 21st century teaching and learning process

This study described and examined teachers’ level of understanding in line with the design and development of problem solving activities in mathematics. It employed a descriptive correlational research design which was participated by 200 randomly selected mathematics teachers among the selected public Junior High Schools in the Philippines. Findings revealed that mathematics teachers were poorly inclined in the design and development of problem solving skills as they found it difficult to create real-world relevance in creating sample problems. Also, they found it extremely hard to design problem solving activities which were structured logically and coherently. Further, mathematics teachers were less knowledgeable in making, forming and developing their own materials. While they found it difficult to create problem solving activities considering real-world relevance and activity structure, they were creative in the formulation and presentation of questions. Apparently, a significant positive relationship was found between the number of years in the service as mathematics teachers and creativity in designing and developing problem solving activities. Hence, the study recommends that mathematics teachers should extend time and efforts in learning the proper design and development of problem solving activities in mathematics. Hence, school heads should create an ad hoc committee who will serve as support body in the development of contextualized problem solving activities.