Mathematical critical and creative thinking as mediators of teacher autonomy support on academic control among pre-service teachers
Description
Mathematical critical and creative thinking are essential competencies in twenty-first century education, particularly for pre-service teachers preparing to meet the demands of transformative pedagogy. This study examined the influence of mathematical critical thinking (CMT) and mathematical creative thinking (CrMT) on academic control (AC), with teacher autonomy support (TAS) as a mediating variable. Grounded in constructivism and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the study employed a cross-sectional design involving 549 mathematics education students, with a mean age of 19 years and 9 months (SD = 10.30 months). Data were collected using validated scales and analysed using SPSS 29 and SmartPLS 4 via Structural Equation Modelling (SEM-PLS) with bootstrapping procedures. The measurement model demonstrated acceptable fit: CFI = 0.962, TLI = 0.925, RMSEA = 0.040, and SRMR = 0.072. Results indicated that teacher autonomy support was a strong positive predictor of AC (β = 0.536, p < 0.001), while direct effects of mathematical critical thinking and mathematical creative thinking on academic control were non-significant. However, both mathematical critical thinking (β = 0.265) and mathematical creative thinking (β = 0.126) exerted significant indirect effects on academic control through teacher autonomy support. Mathematical critical thinking also demonstrated a stronger structural effect, with a large effect size on mathematical creative thinking (f2 = 0.751) and a moderate effect on teacher autonomy support (f2 = 0.252). These findings demonstrate that higher-order thinking skills do not automatically generate academic control; rather, they require an autonomy-supportive learning environment as an enabling mechanism. The study contributes an integrated structural model of cognitive competence, pedagogical environment, and self-regulatory outcome, with practical implications for designing efficient and responsible mathematics teacher education programmes that foster both thinking capacity and academic agency.