Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers Making Sense of Definitions of Functions

Autor/in	Chesler, Joshua
Titel	Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers Making Sense of Definitions of Functions
Quelle	In: Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 14 (2012) 1, S.27-40 (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1442-3901
Schlagwörter	Majors (Students); Mathematics Education; Teacher Educators; Definitions; Mathematics Teachers; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Secondary School Mathematics; Preservice Teachers; Secondary School Teachers; Secondary School Students; Mathematics Instruction; Undergraduate Students; Undergraduate Study; Equations (Mathematics); United States + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mathematische Bildung; Teacher education; Education; Lehrerausbildung; Lehrerbildung; Begriffsbestimmung; Mathematics; Teacher; Teachers; Mathematik; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Pädagogische Kompetenz; Sekundarschüler; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Grundstudium; Equations; Gleichungslehre; USA
Abstract	Definitions play an essential role in mathematics. As such, mathematics teachers and students need to flexibly and productively interact with mathematical definitions in the classroom. However, there has been little research about mathematics teachers' understanding of definitions. At an even more basic level, there is little clarity about what teachers must know about mathematical definitions in order to support the development of mathematically proficient students. This paper reports on a qualitative study of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers choosing, using, evaluating, and interpreting definitions. In an undergraduate capstone course for mathematics majors, these future teachers were assigned three tasks which required them to (1) choose and apply definitions of functions, (2) evaluate the equivalence of definitions of functions, and (3) interpret and critique a secondary school textbook's definition of a specific type of function. Their performances indicated that many of these pre-service mathematics teachers had deficiencies reasoning with and about mathematical definitions. The implications of these deficiencies are discussed and suggestions for teacher educators are proposed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. GPO Box 2747, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia. Tel: +61-8-8363-0288; Fax: +61-8-8362-9288; e-mail: mted@merga.net.au; Web site: http://www.merga.net.au/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10