Abstract

• The main aim of this study was to investigate the reasoning skills of pre-service teachers from Universities of Education in Myanmar based on an intervention practice. As the participants for this study, 1626 pre-service teachers from Universities of Education were selected by stratified random sampling technique. Sequential explanatory design was mainly used. This study was based on Evans and Over’s (1996) dual-process theory. A Reasoning Skills Test (RST) was mainly used to examine the participants’ reasoning skills. Therefore, firstly, an optimal reasoning test was developed by using Item Response Test Theory (IRT). Based on the quantitative results, an intervention practice namely argument mapping technique was conducted to improve pre-service teachers’ reasoning skills. Therefore, an intervention protocol required for intervention practice was also constructed in accordance with Myanmar culture. The results pointed that the reasoning skills of pre-service teachers after intervention were significantly higher than before intervention. Therefore, this study highlighted the reasoning skills can be trained and improved. Consequently, this study gave a reasoning skill test and an intervention technique suitable for Myanmar pre-service teachers. It is hoped that the contributions of this study can be a support for upgrading teacher education in Myanmar.