A Qualitative Study on the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a History-based Course

Huang youchu

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a

Full Text (PDF)

Huang youchu ¹ ^*

More Detail

¹ Wenzhou University, China^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Background:
This study explores the effect of a history-based course on pre-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT).

Material and methods:
Data were collected from 10 pre-service teachers at a normal university in China. At the beginning of the course, participants were asked to submit their teaching plans followed by a teaching simulation on selected topics. They then received a history-based course particularly stressing the value of the history of mathematics in education. After being educated on the historical background of these topics, the participants were asked to think back while watching their simulation videos and then redesign their instructional plans on the same topics. We investigated these pre-service teachers’ MKT through the simulated teaching videos, conducting semi-structured interviews, and analyzing their teaching plans and learning journals.

Results:
Results suggest that these pre-service teachers’ MKT had improved. Their changes in PCK were more significant than those in SMK. Nevertheless, the history-based course seemed to have had less influence on the participants’ CCK and KCC.

Conclusions:
Possible reasons for the positive and negative effects are addressed.

Keywords

history of mathematics
mathematical knowledge for teaching
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
pre-service teacher
subject matter knowledge

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2016, Volume 12, Issue 9, 2599-2616

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a

Publication date: 29 Jun 2016

Article Views: 2521

Article Downloads: 1540

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

An, S., Kulm, G., & Wu, Z. (2004). The pedagogical content knowledge of middle school mathematics teachers in China and the US. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 7, 145–172.
An, S., & Wu, Z. (2012). Enhancing mathematics teachers’ knowledge of students’ thinking from assessing and analyzing misconceptions in homework. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 10, 717-753.
Ball, D. L. (1990). The mathematical understandings that prospective teachers bring to teacher education. Elementary School Journal, 90(4), 449–466.
Ball, D. L., & Bass, H. (2003). Toward a practice-based theory of mathematical knowledge for teaching. In B. Davis & E. Simmt (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group（PP.3-14）. Edmonton, AB: CMESG/GCEDM.
Ball, D. L., Hill, H. C., & Bass, H. (2005). Knowing mathematics for teaching-who knows mathematics well enough to teach third grade, and how can we decide? American Educator, 29(1), 14-17, 20-22, 43-46.
Ball, D. L., Lubienski, S., & Mewborn, D. (2001). Research on teaching mathematics: The unsolved problem of teachers’ mathematical knowledge. In V. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (4th ed., pp.433-456). New York: Macmillan.
Ball, D. L., Thames, M. H., & Phelps, G. (2008). Content knowledge for teaching: What makes it special? Journal of Teacher Education, 59 (5), 389-407.
Baumert, J., Kunter, M., Blum, W., Brunner, M., Voss, T., Jordan, A., & Tsai, Y.-M. (2010). Teachers’ mathematical knowledge, cognitive activation in the classroom, and student progress. American Educational Research Journal, 47, 133-180.
Begle, E. G. (1979). Critical variables in mathematics education: Findings from a survey of the empirical literature. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Carter, K., Sabers, D., Cushing, K., Pinnegar, S., & Berliner, D. (1987). Processing and using information about students: A study of expert, novice and postulant teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 3,147-157.
Charalambos, Y. C., Panaoura, A., & Philippou, G. (2009). Using the history of mathematics to induce changes in preservice teachers’ beliefs and attitudes: Insights from evaluating a teacher education program. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 71, 161–180.
Clark, K. M. (2012). History of mathematics: Illuminating understanding of school mathematics concepts for prospective mathematics teachers. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 81(1), 67-84.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Zeichner, K. M. (2005). Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Kappa Delta Pi.
Fennema, E., & Franke, L. M. (1992). Teachers’ knowledge and its impact. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 147- 164). New York: Macmillan.
Furinghetti, F. (2007). Teacher education through the history of mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 66(2), 131-143.
Grossman, P. L. (1995). Teachers’ Knowledge. In L. W. Anderson (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of teaching and teacher education (pp.20-24). Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
Hill, H. C. (2010). The nature and predictors of elementary teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 41(5), 513-545.
Hill, H. C., Rowan, B., & Ball, D. L. (2005). Effects of teachers’ mathematics knowledge for teaching on student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 371- 406.
Hill, H. C., Schilling, S. G., & Ball, D. L. (2004). Developing measures of teachers’ mathematics knowledge for teaching. The Elementary School Journal, 105(1), 11-30.
Holmes, V. L. (2012). Depth of teachers’ knowledge: Frameworks for teachers’ knowledge of Mathematics. Journal of STEM Education, 13(1), 55-71.
Hsien, F-J. (2013). Strengthening the conceptualization of mathematics pedagogical content knowledge for international studies: A Taiwanese perspective. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 11, 923-947.
Jankvist, U. T., Mosvold, R., Fauskanger, J., & Jakobsen, A. (2012). Mathematical knowledge for teaching in relation to history in mathematics education. 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education, 4210-4217.
Jones, K. (2000). Teacher knowledge and professional development in geometry. Proceedings of the British society for research into learning mathematics, 20(3), 109-114.
Kahan, J. A., Cooper, D. A., & Bethea, K. A. (2003). The role of mathematics teachers' content knowledge in their teaching: A framework for research applied to a study of student teachers. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 6, 223-252.
Kleickmann, T., Richter, D., Kunter, M., Elsner, J., Besser, M., Krauss, S., & Baumert, J. (2013). Teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge: The role of structural differences in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education，64(1), 90- 106.
Leninhardt, G. (1988).Situated knowledge expertise in teaching. In J. Caldhear (Ed.), Teachers’ professional learning (pp.141-148). London: Falmer Press.
Liu, P.-H. (2003). Do teachers need to incorporate the history of mathematics in their teaching? Mathematics Teacher, 96(6), 416-421.
Liu, P.-H. (2009). History as a platform developing college students’ epistemological beliefs of mathematics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 7,473-499.
Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics: Teachers’ understanding of fundamental mathematics in China and the United States. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Monk, D. (1994). Subject area preparation of secondary mathematics and science teachers and student achievement. Economics and Education Review, 13, 125–145.
Mosvold, R., Jakobsen, A., & Jankvist, U. T. (2014). How mathematical knowledge for teaching may profit from the study of history of mathematics. Science & Education, 23, 47-60.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2007). Mathematics teaching today: Improving practice, improving student learning. Reston, VA: Author.
Olanoff, D. E. (2011). Mathematical knowledge for teaching teachers: The case of multiplication and division of fractions (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Syracuse University, New York.
Porter, A., & Brophy, J. (1988). Synthesis of research on good teaching: Insights from the work of the institute for research on teaching. Educational Leadership, 45(8), 74-85.
Schilling, S. G., & Hill, H. C. (2007). Assessing measures of mathematical knowledge for teaching: A validity argument approach. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 5(2-3), 70-80.
Schubring, G. (2000). History of mathematics for trainee teachers. In J. Fauvel, J. van Maanen (Eds.). History in mathematics education: The ICMI study (pp.91-142), Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Shulman, L. S. (l986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.
Seung, E. (2013). The process of physics teaching assistants’ pedagogical content knowledge development. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 11, 1303- 1326.
Tzanakis, C., & Arcavi, A. (2000). Integrating history of mathematics in the classroom: An analytic survey. In: J. Fauvel & J. van Maanen (Eds.), History in mathematics education (pp.201-240), Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Yasemin, C. G. (2012). Teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching, instructional practices, and student outcomes (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

How to cite this article

APA

youchu, H. (2016). A Qualitative Study on the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a History-based Course. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(9), 2599-2616. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a

Vancouver

youchu H. A Qualitative Study on the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a History-based Course. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(9):2599-616. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a

AMA

youchu H. A Qualitative Study on the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a History-based Course. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(9), 2599-2616. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a

Chicago

youchu, Huang. "A Qualitative Study on the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a History-based Course". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2016 12 no. 9 (2016): 2599-2616. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a

Harvard

youchu, H. (2016). A Qualitative Study on the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a History-based Course. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(9), pp. 2599-2616. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a

MLA

youchu, Huang "A Qualitative Study on the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a History-based Course". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 12, no. 9, 2016, pp. 2599-2616. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1259a