What to measure in the level of mathematical thinking among preuniversity Science students?

Mathematical thinking involves mental operations that are facilitated by the learners´ mathematics knowledge and their positive disposition towards mathematical problem solving. It improves problem solving process by adapting various heuristic strategies as well as monitoring and controlling their outcomes in meta-cognitive manner. Thus, it is vital to identify the mathematical thinking level of pre-university science graduates so that ultimately they are well-equipped with the authentic problem solving and thinking skills for their future academic development specifically and nation building generally. This paper presents a theoretical mathematical thinking assessment framework that integrates the measuring dimensions of mathematical thinking with its processes to achieve different mathematical thinking levels among pre-university Science students. The framework provides an overview on what and how to facilitate the development of the students´ mathematical thinking level and problem-solving skills. It could be utilized to measure the preparedness of pre-university Science students for their tertiary mathematics education. Retrospectively, the framework could be leveraged to determine whether the aim of mathematics curriculum for secondary school in developing the students´ mathematical thinking has been met. On top of it, the framework assists in identifying a pool of potential post-secondary students to embark on tertiary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education.