Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Thailand
In Thailand, the students learned mathematics five hours per week and there are 16 weeks in one semester. Word problems were embedded in all topics in mathematics in primary and secondary levels. The mathematics teachers face a challenge in balancing their teaching methods on traditional chalk-and-talk “telling approach” and paper-and-pencil in completing the mathematics contents in the required syllabus and the assessments. The assessment involved at National Testing such as O-NET
(Ordinary National Educational Test) and also at International Testing such as PISA (Program for
International Student Assessment) or TIMSS (Trend in Mathematics and Science Study). Base on the results of the testing from year 2000 until 2013, Thai students’ scores in mathematics were lower than the mean scores in every testing namely: O-NET, PISA and TIMSS. Singapore students were very successful in the testing and the Singapore students’ mathematics scores were top 10 in PISA and TIMSS.