COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH ON IMPLEMENTING INQUIRY-BASED INSTRUCTION IN AN EIGHTH GRADE MATHEMATICS CLASS: AN ALTERNATIVE MODE FOR MATHEMATICS TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

This paper reports on a collaborative action research exploring an in-service and a pre-service mathematics leachers' professional development with implementing inquiry-based instruction. The research period covered two semesters. The collaboration the two teachers includes: (1) before-class discussion for preparing the lesson plan; (2)in-class teaching and classroom observation; (3) after-class reflection and modification; (4) weekly meeting with a mathematics educator for university based support. Through three phases of exploration. the in-service teacher participant had developed from a novice at inquiry-based instruction to an experienced teacher who had strong confidence and intention to popularise the benefits of the teaching strategy. As for the pre-service teacher participant, he also had gained a deeper understanding of the complex role of a mathematics teacher and had more confidence to conduct inquiry-based teaching on his own. Besides, the mathematics educator played a crucial role as a strong support for the two teacher participants behind the scenes.