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Johnson, Denise T., Chandler, Farrah J. Pre-service Teachers’ Fieldtrip to the Battleship: Teaching and Learning Mathematics through an Informal Learning Experience (April 2009)
Abstract.Teacher education programs are designed to provide candidates opportunities to explore effective ways to teach K-12 students mathematics. Although many of these experiences engage candidates in investigations of pedagogies using technology, manipulatives, media, etc., they often only involve and emphasize more formal experiences such as demonstrated in microteaching, K-12 school classroom internships, and mathematics content courses. This article describes teacher candidates’ capabilities of learning how to teach mathematics through an informal learning experience. Candidates visited the North Carolina Battleship and wrote lesson plans on integrating the Battleship culture into high school mathematics objectives. The article concludes with a discussion of candidates’ reaction to and attitudes about the informal learning experience and their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of learning teaching strategies in this fashion.
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Ellis, Mark W., Contreras, José, Martínez-Cruz, Armando M. The Mathematical Preparation of Prospective Elementary Teachers: Reflections from Solving an Interesting Problem (April 2009)
Abstract.Problem solving tasks offer valuable opportunities to strengthen prospective elementary teachers’ knowledge of and disposition toward mathematics, providing them with new experiences doing mathematics. Mathematics educators can influence future instruction by modeling effective pedagogical strategies that engage students in making sense of processes of mathematical reasoning. What follows is a description of a well-designed task and the role played by one mathematics educator in engaging prospective teachers in processes of mathematical reasoning. It is hoped that this description can shed light on some general ideas about the design and implementation of problem solving tasks in courses for future elementary teachers.
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Wilburne, Jane M., Napoli, Mary Connecting Mathematics and Literature: An Analysis of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers’ Changing Beliefs and Knowledge (September 2008)
Abstract.The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics calls for students to see relationships and connections with mathematics (2000). This study examined the influences on eight pre-service elementary school teachers’ beliefs and knowledge of teaching mathematics through literature. The semester long project involved both the language arts and elementary mathematics methods courses, and involved the designing and implementation of mathematics lessons based around a young adult novel. Through qualitative analyses, the study reveals a significant shift in their beliefs, interest, and identification of benefits of teaching mathematics through literature and making connections across the curriculum. Teacher education programs can benefit from replications of this study.
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McCormick, Kelly K. Building and Modeling How to Build a Community of Learners (April 2008)
Abstract.This article describes how to build a classroom community of learners, pre-service teachers, during the first days of the semester. This process not only creates a supportive learning environment, but it provides pre-service teachers with a model of how they can build a community of learners in their own classrooms.
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Tobias, Jennifer M., Ortiz, Enrique Using Science to Promote Preservice Teacher Understanding of Problem Solving in Mathematics (August 2007)
Abstract.Preservice elementary teachers need to be given the experiences of integrating mathematics with other subjects. They need to go into the classroom with the understanding that mathematics is not an isolated topic. This article describes a paper airplane activity that was presented in a class of preservice elementary education teachers to show how mathematics and science can be integrated with one another.
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Andrew, Lane Preservice Teachers' Reaction to their Final Constructivist Mathematics Class: A Case Study (July 2006)
Abstract.Many teacher educators model constructivist pedagogy to preservice teachers in the mathematics classes they take. Preservice teachers however, are not necessarily comfortable being a part of such a class. The following qualitative case study examined the expectations and reactions of a group of preservice teachers who were taking their final content mathematics course. Survey results sorted by content analysis indicated students were expecting (1) a methods class, (2) the instructor to teach them mathematics by telling, and (3) the instructor to take an authoritative role in the classroom. Student reactions are reported as direct quotes. The author’s purpose in conducting this study is to stimulate dialogue among teacher educators surrounding these common reactions.
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Olkun, Sinan and Toluk, Zulbiye Teacher Questioning with an Appropriate Manipulative may Make a Big Difference (January 2004)
Abstract.The purpose of the present study was to present examples of the utilization of social processes such as teacher questioning and collective argumentation coupled with an appropriate use of a manipulative material to stimulate students’ thinking in teaching geometry. We first present theoretical issues concerning the use of manipulatives, teacher questioning and collective argumentation. We then provide examples and describe the use of these components in teaching and learning geometry with pre-service elementary school teachers.
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Meel, David E. Prospective Teachers Reading Research Articles: Examining The Potentially Empowering And Debilitating Effects (May 2002)
Abstract. The current mathematics education reform efforts regarding teacher preparation emphasize the development of content and pedagogical knowledge. In particular, the adequacy of teachers’ mathematical knowledge receives considerable attention along with the effects of content knowledge on pedagogical practices. This paper illustrates how reading a particular research article designed to draw personal relevance for the investigation into the division of fractions can have both empowering and debilitating effects. The responses of 23 prospective elementary teachers specializing in mathematics portray the variegated efficacy of using the reading of the Borko et al. (1992) article to pique the prospective teachers’ interests and draw relevancy for the content under discussion. Additionally, the study indicates the need for attention to emotional upheavals which result from such an instructional intervention.
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Furner, Joseph M. The Effects of a Math Curriculum Course on the Beliefs of Pre-service Teachers Regarding the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Standards (October 2000)
Abstract. The present study examined the extent to which a secondary curriculum course on the NCTM Standards effects the mathematics teaching beliefs of pre-service teachers. The sample consisted of 25 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers enrolled in a major research university in the South. The Standards Beliefs Instrument (SBI) was used on a pretest and posttest basis during a fifteen week course to measure pre-service teachers' beliefs on teaching mathematics in accordance with NCTM Standards (1989). The results indicate a significant difference (p < .05) in the pre-service teachers' beliefs in agreeing with the NCTM Standards. Implications for research, theory, and practice are also examined.
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Lloyd, Gwendolyn M. and Frykholm, Jeffrey A. On the Development of "Book Smarts" in Mathematics: Prospective Elementary Teachers' Experiences with Innovative Curriculum Materials (July 2000)
Abstract. This paper explores the notion of challenging and re-developing preservice elementary teachers’ conceptions of mathematics by engaging them in the use of reform-oriented K-12 curriculum materials during teacher education coursework. Examples of teachers’ reflections on course experiences illustrate how innovative curriculum materials can challenge teachers to learn mathematics in reform-oriented ways. As they work in cooperative groups, discuss multiple solution strategies, and approach subject matter through relevant problem situations, teachers are offered invaluable first-hand experiences doing mathematics while bearing in mind questions about teaching.
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Ostler, Elliott Mathematical Modeling: Some Ideas and Suggestions for Pre-service Teacher Preparation. (April 2000)
Abstract. The challenges of preparing secondary level math teachers for a new century of instruction have taken us well beyond the "standards" efforts of the past two decades. Reasoning, proof, and the development of new ways to represent mathematical ideas have begun to emerge as new basics. Mathematical modeling activities allow students to take information they have already learned and apply it in process of scientific inquiry thus allowing them to touch on the basic concepts of proof in a controlled environment. A sample modeling activity with a possible solution for mathematically telling time has been included.
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Hoover, Holly Adding the Complement: How an alternative subtraction aglorthim lead to a summation formula for finite geometric sequences (April 2000)
Abstract. While studying a section on whole number algorithms from the students’ text, a class of elementary teachers was introduced to a subtraction algorithm called adding the complement. During the process of studying this algorithm, the students posed and investigated questions eventually leading them to the summation formula for a finite geometric series. This paper shows the process of how students acquired a conceptual understanding of this interesting problem rather than a mere memorization of facts. After this lesson, several students professed a new-found appreciation for the process of mathematical discovery.
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