Preservice Teachers Strategies and Understanding in Division of Fractions.
Publication Date
April 2003
Abstract
"One of the real challenges of teaching mathematics is to find a proper balance between conceptual understanding and procedural skills" (Kulm, 1994, p. 18). In this context, to help preservice teachers teach mathematics effectively, mathematics teacher preparation must be oriented towards a view where what preservice teachers know, believe, and care about are taken into account (Ball, 1988). In response, this research aimed to gain a deeper understanding of preservice teachers’ solution processes in solving problems and to determine their conceptual and procedural understanding of fraction concepts. Qualitative methods, involving interviews and analysis of preservice teachers’ written responses on problem solving tasks were employed. Ten pre-service teachers, five who have taken a problem solving course and five who have not, were asked to respond to 5 problem solving questions involving fractions. Four of the participants were interviewed to further clarify their problem solving strategies and to elicit their conceptual and procedural understanding about problem solving with fractions. A discussion of the results and analysis of data with implications on content preparation of preservice teachers conclude the paper.
Disciplines
Education | Mathematics
Recommended Citation
Nillas, Leah, "Preservice Teachers Strategies and Understanding in Division of Fractions." (2003). Scholarly Publications. 49.
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/education_scholarship/49