INSTRUMENT VALIDATION FORM
General Instructions: Kindly review all items carefully and ensure they align with the study’s objectives.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Open-ended Questions
This section aims to explore the experiences of pre-service teachers in developing their
competency in mathematics. The questions are divided into two main parts: Best Practices, which focus
on the strategies and methods that have proven effective, and Challenges, which identify areas of
difficulty in content learning, pedagogy, and professional development.
Useful Useful
Information Information
Item Remarks
and but not
Essential Essential
Best Practices:
1. Content Mastery:
a. What strategies do Revised:
you use to improve What techniques or strategies do you
your understanding use to get better at understanding
of mathematical math? For example, do you use study
concepts? techniques, online resources, or talk
things over with friends? Please share
what’s worked best for you.
b. Can you describe a Revised:
teaching method or tool Can you think of a teaching method,
that helped you grasp a tool, or resource that helped you
difficult mathematical understand a tricky math topic? How
topic? did it help you learn better?
2. Pedagogical Revised:
Approaches: When you're making a lesson plan for a
tough math topic, what steps do you
a. How do you approach take to make sure students stay engaged
designing a lesson plan for and understand? What strategies do
a complex mathematical you use to overcome challenges while
topic? planning?
b. What specific teaching Revised:
techniques do you find What teaching methods work best for
most effective when helping students understand math,
explaining mathematical especially when it’s difficult? Can you
concepts to students? share an example of when one of these
methods really worked well?
Challenges:
1. Content Learning:
a. What are the most Revised:
common difficulties you What’s the hardest part about learning
face when learning math for you? Is it understanding tricky
mathematical concepts? ideas, applying formulas, or something
How do you overcome else? How do you tackle these
them? challenges?
b. Have you encountered Revised:
any specific topics that Are there any math topics that you
were particularly found especially tough to get? What
challenging to understand? made them hard for you? Was it the way
Please elaborate. it was taught, the difficulty of the topic
itself, or something else
2. Pedagogical
Challenges:
a. What challenges have
you faced in applying Revised:
pedagogical theories to Have you had any trouble putting
actual teaching scenarios? teaching theories into practice in real
classrooms? Can you share a time when
a method didn’t work like you thought it
would?
b. How do you handle ok
situations where students
struggle to understand
mathematical concepts?
Support Systems: Revised:
What kind of support or resources do
a. What types of support or you think would help future teachers get
resources do you believe better at teaching math? Are there any
would help pre-service workshops or tools that you think would
teachers improve in make a difference?
mathematics teaching and
learning?
b. Share an instance where Revised:
collaboration or mentorship Can you share a time when working
positively impacted your with others or getting mentorship really
learning or teaching helped you grow as a teacher or
experience. learner? What did you learn from that
experience?
Feedback/Suggestions:
1. Simplify the Language (where appropriate):
While the content is relevant, a few of the questions can feel a bit formal or academic. Making the
language simpler and more conversational would make it easier for people to engage, especially if your
audience includes newer educators or students. For example:
Original: What types of support, resources, or professional development opportunities do you think
would be most beneficial for pre-service teachers to enhance their skills in teaching mathematics?
Why?
Simplified: What types of support or resources would help future teachers get better at teaching math?
Why do you think these would work?
2. Prompt for Both Challenges and Successes:
Some questions ask about challenges but don't prompt respondents to reflect on what has worked. This
could lead to more well-rounded responses. For example, after asking about struggles with teaching
theories, follow it up with:
What has worked well for you in overcoming these challenges?
This way, the questionnaire not only captures difficulties but also successes and strategies that might
be useful to others.
3. Encourage Reflection on Teaching Methods:
For the question about how they handle students struggling with math, you might want to expand on
the kinds of methods or techniques they've tried. Sometimes, teaching can be about small tweaks that
have large effects, so asking them to reflect on specific methods that worked (or didn’t) will yield
useful responses. For example:
Can you describe a time when a student struggled with a concept, and how you adjusted your teaching
method to help them?
4. Be More Specific in Some Sections:
Some questions are open-ended, which is great, but they could benefit from a bit more direction or
specific examples. For instance, when asking about collaboration or mentorship, it's helpful to specify
what type of collaboration you're referring to (e.g., peer collaboration, working with a mentor, or
collaborating with the wider school community). A bit of guidance here would help respondents
provide more focused and useful answers.
Can you share a time when collaborating with a colleague or working with a mentor helped improve
your teaching or learning? What did you learn from that experience?
5. Balance Between Theory and Practice:
While the questions about pedagogical theories are important, you might want to balance them with
more practical questions about the everyday teaching process. Sometimes, real-world teaching
experiences and techniques are more useful than theoretical approaches, especially for those who are
in the early stages of teaching.
6. Clarify the Audience:
If you're targeting pre-service teachers, they may have different insights and challenges compared to
experienced teachers. Ensure the language and focus of your questions reflect this. If you're reaching
both groups, make sure there are questions that specifically address both ends of the experience
spectrum.
DEBORAH E. BANDAHALA, Ph.D.
Master Teacher 1
TTNHS, Zamboanga City
