Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Representations and Suggestions for Students’ Incorrect Use

Mi Yeon Lee; Ji-Eun Lee

doi:10.29333/ejmste/103055

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Mi Yeon Lee ¹ ^* , Ji-Eun Lee ²

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¹ Arizona State University, USA² Oakland University, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

In this study, we investigated how elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) perceive using representations in teaching mathematics and what fractional representations (e.g., manipulatives or models) they suggest to guide students’ incorrect use of representations in learning fractions. A written questionnaire was administrated to 151 PSTs at a large Southwestern university in the US. An inductive content analysis approach including both qualitative and quantitative analyses was used to analyze the data. Findings suggested that fraction-related topics were the PSTs’ main choices for using representations, and they valued understanding concepts and making connections between representations and concepts. Also, the findings showed the PSTs’ tendency to use models procedurally and their predominant dependency on a few types of models (e.g., wedged circular models) in guiding students who use representations incorrectly. Implications for designing mathematics methods courses that support effective use of representations are discussed.

Keywords

representations
fraction models
manipulatives
preservice teachers
teacher preparation

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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, Volume 15, Issue 9, September 2019, Article No: em1745

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103055

Publication date: 12 Apr 2019

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How to cite this article

APA

Lee, M. Y., & Lee, J.-E. (2019). Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Representations and Suggestions for Students’ Incorrect Use. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(9), em1745. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103055

Vancouver

Lee MY, Lee JE. Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Representations and Suggestions for Students’ Incorrect Use. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(9):em1745. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103055

AMA

Lee MY, Lee JE. Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Representations and Suggestions for Students’ Incorrect Use. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(9), em1745. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103055

Chicago

Lee, Mi Yeon, and Ji-Eun Lee. "Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Representations and Suggestions for Students’ Incorrect Use". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2019 15 no. 9 (2019): em1745. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103055

Harvard

Lee, M. Y., and Lee, J.-E. (2019). Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Representations and Suggestions for Students’ Incorrect Use. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(9), em1745. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103055

MLA

Lee, Mi Yeon et al. "Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Use of Representations and Suggestions for Students’ Incorrect Use". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 15, no. 9, 2019, em1745. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103055