Student Teachers’ Problem-posing skills in Ratios and Proportional Reasoning: A systematic Review

Problem-posing plays an important role in the teaching and learning of mathematics, as it is enables teachers to effectively assess the conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among students. In Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs), student teachers are expected to develop the ability to construct meaningful mathematical problems that enhance learning. However, research indicates that many student teachers exhibit difficulties when posing problems in mathematical concepts such as ratio and proportional reasoning. On this premise, this study systematically review empirical literature on student teachers’ problem-posing skills related to fractions, ratios and proportional reasoning within the context of TE. The review followed the PRISMA guideline to identify and screen relevant studies published between 2010 and 2025 from databases including Google scholar, ERIC, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and JSTOR; this resulted in the inclusion of 15 studies. Findings from the review revealed key themes, including conceptual difficulties, dominance of low-cognitive demand, awareness performance gap, contextual influences, and geographical skewness in research. The study highlights the need for stronger instructional support and more context-specific research, especially in underrepresented regions such as the Sub-Saharan Africa.