International Journal of Education and Social Science www.ijessnet.com Vol. 3 No. 11; November 2016 61 Mathematics and Science Student Teachers’ Perception of Their Teaching Practice: A Case of Copperbelt University Students, Zambia David Chituta Leonard Nkhata Asian Banda Jack Jumbe Beauty Choobe The Copperbelt University Department of Mathematics and Natural sciences. School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Kitwe, Zambia. Abstract Teaching practice is an obligatory component of all teacher training programmes in Zambia. It prepares student teachers for a professional teaching career in a school. At the Copperbelt University, it prepares student teachers to teach Mathematics or Science in secondary schools. The implementation of teaching practice in Zambia involves the university lecturers as supervisors, school teachers as mentors and student teachers as participants. But the focus in this research was to get the perceptions of student teachers on their teaching practice. Questionnaires, student teachers‟ reports and a focus group discussion were used to collect data from the participants. The findings reveal that all student teachers regard teaching practice as important element in the training process. Student teachers stated that they were adequately prepared before they left for teaching practice. When student teachers went for teaching practice, they were welcomed at the schools, they taught well, learned more about teaching and classroom management skills. In addition, they appreciated the guidance given to them by their mentors and the supervisors. On the other hand, they faced challenge of a short teaching practice. They also faced challenges in the delivery of the subject matter because schools lacked teaching aids, laboratory equipment. Some student teachers in Mathematics, failed to adjust their teaching to lower classes in the school. To some extent the supervision was also a challenge because some supervisors where irregular in their supervision. Despite these challenges, at the end of the teaching exercise, students teachers felt confident, competent and experienced a sense of growth in their profession. Key Words: Teaching practice, Student teachers, Pedagogy skills, challenges. 1. Introduction Teaching practice or practicum can be defined as a phase in the teacher training curriculum when a student teacher under the guidance of a lecturer and an experienced school teacher is given a practical chance to demonstrate the teaching skills in their respective schools. In order for this training to be successful, a student teacher is first taught the theoretical knowledge of the various subjects considered necessary at the university then the student is offered a chance to develop their teaching skills and knowledge in a classroom setting (Groottenboer, 2005). For this the reason all teacher training institutions consider the period student teachers spend in schools gaining practical experience in teaching as critical in the training of teachers (Quazi, Rawat & Thomas, 2012 ;Beck & Kosnik 2012:, Haigh, Pinder & Donald 2006). Mentors, supervisors and students teachers, who are involved in the training process, also recognize its importance (Beck & Kosnik, 2002. Teaching practice is important and has many positive aspects to a student teacher. Specifically, it gives student teachers a chance to practice in real classroom situations. In addition student teachers become proficient in the subject matter and skilled in the delivery of lessons to learners (Atputhasamy, 2005).