Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to synthesize 147 mathematics education theses on mathematical skills and processes which consisted of 5 skills ; mathematical problem solving, reasoning, communication and presentation, connection, and creativity. These theses were published between 1989 to 2008 from 8 universities. The instruments used in this research were a research summary form and a research synthesis form. The index of congruency between the synthesis framework and findings was used to find the quality of instruments. The data were analyzed by using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Statistics used for analysis were frequency, percentage, and content analysis. The finding of quantitative synthesis revealed that most of research studies on mathematical skills and processes were in the master degree level and published after implementing basic education curriculum. Most of them were quasi-experimental research. The purposes aimed to compare the abilities of mathematical skills and processes between the experimental group and the control group and to study for 2 dependent variables. Mathematical problem solving was the most studied. Most of the population and samples were in keystage 3 in Bangkok and the surrounding areas. The finding of qualitative synthesis revealed that theses on mathematical skills and processes were creating unit plans, using several teaching models emphasizing on group activity, using technologies and tools for teaching, as well as using several instruments to measure the abilities of mathematical skills and processes. The different focuses of 5 skills can be categorized as follows.; 1.Mathematical problem solving: use of worksheets for developing problem solving processes and use of the graphing calculator. Students with high ability of mathematical problem solving were those with democratic rearing. 2.Mathematical reasoning: use of developed curriculum which promoted reasoning ability and use of worksheets for finding answers with reasoning. 3.Mathematical communication and presentation: use of worksheets for finding answers on group activities and showing mind maps. 4.Mathematical connection: use of worksheets emphasizing on connecting to real life. 5.Mathematical creativity: use of developed curriculum which promoted creativity and use of worksheets showing various answers and solutions. Students with high ability of mathematical creativity were those with high mathematics learning achievement.