A Coloured Window on Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptions of Rational Numbers

Autor/inn/en	Sinclair, Nathalie; Liljedahl, Peter; Zazkis, Rina
Titel	A Coloured Window on Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptions of Rational Numbers
Quelle	In: International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning, 11 (2006) 2, S.177-203 (27 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1382-3892
DOI	10.1007/s10758-006-0002-y
Schlagwörter	Cognitive Processes; Numbers; Number Concepts; Mathematics Instruction; Preservice Teachers; Computer Software; Preservice Teacher Education; Elementary School Teachers; Elementary School Mathematics; Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer Uses in Education; Comprehension + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Zahlenraum; Number concept; Zahlbegriff; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Lehramtsstudiengang; Lehrerausbildung; Elementary school; Teacher; Teachers; Grundschule; Volksschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Elementare Mathematik; Schulmathematik; Computer based training; Computerunterstützter Unterricht; Computernutzung; Verstehen; Verständnis
Abstract	In undergraduate mathematics courses, pre-service elementary school teachers are often faced with the task of re-learning some of the concepts they themselves struggled with in their own schooling. This often involves different cognitive processes and psychological issues than initial learning: pre-service teachers have had many more opportunities to construct understandings and representations than initial learners, some of which may be more complex and engrained; pre-service teachers are likely to have created deeply-held-and often negative-beliefs and attitudes toward certain mathematical ideas and processes. In our recent research, we found that pre-service teachers who used a particular computer-based microworld, one emphasising visual representations of and experimental interactions with elementary number theory concepts, overcame many cognitive and psychological difficulties reported in the literature. In this study, we investigate the possibilities of using a similarly-designed microworld that involves a set of rational number concepts. We describe the affordances of this microworld, both in terms of pre-service teacher learning and research on pre-service teacher learning, namely, the helpful "window" it gave us on the mathematical meaning-making of pre-service teachers. We also show how their interactions with this microworld provided many with a new and aesthetically-rich set of visualisations and experiences. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10