Rate My Professor Rajeshree Thanapal

Rajeshree Thanapal serves as an Associate Lecturer in the School of Education at Curtin University. She is actively involved in teaching mathematics education courses, including serving as the unit coordinator for EDPR2004: Children as Mathematical Learners. Her contributions extend to other units such as EDP 443, focusing on computational thinking in education.

Thanapal's research specializes in mathematics teacher education, with a particular emphasis on the implementation of inquiry-based learning. Her study, titled "Factors Affecting Mathematics Teacher Beliefs and Pedagogical Practices When Implementing Inquiry-Based Learning," was presented at the Western Australian Institute for Educational Research (WAIER) Forum 2024 and the International Conference on Modern Research in Education, Technology and Learning (ICMETL) in March 2024. Employing a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, the research gathered data via surveys, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and follow-up interviews from ten mathematics teachers across Australia and the United Kingdom. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis identified critical influences on teachers' beliefs and practices, including students' prior content knowledge (noting that inquiry-based approaches may not be suitable for students lacking strong foundations), time limitations, challenges in evaluating investigative work, teacher anxiety associated with non-traditional methods, shortcomings in professional development programs, and inconsistencies between professed beliefs and classroom enactments. Although many participants acknowledged the advantages of inquiry-based learning, they often refrained from full implementation. The findings offer practical insights for curriculum support, teacher training enhancements, and organizations like the International Baccalaureate to bridge the gap between policy intentions and pedagogical realities in mathematics instruction.