PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OF TUTORS: A PREDICTOR OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' MATHEMATICS LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT

The study investigates if tutors’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a predictor of pre-service teachers’ mathematics learning performance in some selected colleges of education in Northern Ghana. The design employs a cross-sectional survey design. A questionnaire was used to gather data for both pre-service-teachers and tutors for the study including the determination of their validity and reliability. This is followed by the use of descriptive statistics for the analysis. Outcome of the findings revealed that tutors' PCK has a strong influence on pre-service teachers’ mathematics performance. The findings also showed that knowledge of learners and learning is a PCK component of tutors. Similarly, it emerged that student teachers have challenges in following instructions when learning mathematics. It further showed majority of the tutors did not adopt appropriate measures to address the difficulties pre-service teachers encounter while learning mathematics. It is therefore recommended that tutors in the colleges of education update their knowledge of the various PCK components so as to improve their classroom and professional practices. Management of the CoE should ensure the institutional enforcement of policies that improve learning performance in mathematics.