Fostering Elementary Pre-service Teachers’ Mathematical Dispo ...

Work thumb

Views: 426

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2017, Common Ground Research Networks, All Rights Reserved

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of mathematical dispositions toward elementary pre-service teachers’ competency in learning division of fractions. Twelve intervening lessons were conducted for interweaving mathematical dispositions, mathematical competency, and the concept of division of fractions. The study included thirty-six participants majoring in elementary education; of them, five were minoring in mathematics, fifteen were minoring in science, and sixteen were minoring in other subject minors. A one-group pre-test-post-test design was used to determine how mathematical dispositions impact participants’ mathematical competency while they reconstruct the knowledge of division of fractions. This study confirmed the results of previous studies about elementary pre-service teachers’ insufficient knowledge of division of fractions. Further, it suggested that a curriculum design, along with fostering elementary pre-service teachers’ mathematical dispositions and competency, could be another way to increase elementary pre-service teachers’ understanding of division of fractions.