Contextualisation of fractions : teachers pedagogical and mathematical content knowledge for teaching
Date
2012
Authors
Chinnappan, M.
Desplat, B.
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Journal article
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Journal of Science and Mathematics Education in Southeast Asia, 2012; 35(1):43-59
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Abstract
The teaching of mathematics for the development of numeracy is emerging to be an important goal of recent reforms. In broad terms, numeracy involves the application of mathematical concepts and procedures in the understanding and solution of a range of problems including real-life problems. Teaching for numeracy, thus calls for skills in translating abstract concepts in mathematics into appropriate real-life contexts and developing an understanding of children’s diffi culties in this area. In this study, we examined this issue by analysing knowledge of teachers as they attempted to contextualise an abstract fraction problem involving division. Data analyses showed that the participating teachers (n=4) have developed a conceptually weak schema that girds the comprehension and subsequent contextualisation of the given problem. This was evidenced by not only their failure to provide a correct real-life problem representation but also limited knowledge about how they could help students who might have diffi culty with similar problems. However, the teachers have developed a robust body of general pedagogical knowledge that was relevant to the teaching of fractions. Taken together the data suggested that their content knowledge for teaching mathematics and pedagogical content knowledge were both weak in this specifi c area of fractions.
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Copyright 2012 SEAMEO RECSAM