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Description:
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This study examines preservice teachers’ knowledge in the case of linear
functions . Teachers’ knowledge in general consists of their subject matter knowledge
and their pedagogical content knowledge . In this study , teachers’ subject matter
knowledge is examined by looking at their ability to adapt to different representation
modes . The framework for subject matter content knowledge consists of five
components : (1 ) flexibility across formal mathematical symbolisms ; (2 ) flexibility
between visual and algebraic representations ; (3 ) flexibility within visual
representations ; (4 ) flexibility with real -life situations , and (5 ) procedural skills . In terms
of pedagogical content knowledge , two aspects were examined across five
corresponding components . These two aspects were knowledge of students’ conceptions
and misconceptions , and teachers’ teaching strategies .
The primary source of data for the study was from two tests and six interviews .
The results showed preservice teachers performed poorly in terms of representation
flexibility . Furthermore , most of the preservice teachers had limited knowledge of the
nature and sources of students’ mistakes as well as effective teaching strategies to help
students with their misconceptions . In terms of knowledge structure , representation flexibility was found to be significant in both CK and PCK compared to procedural
skills . Moreover , the representational flexibility in terms of CK seemed to strongly
predict the overall PCK performance . Representational flexibility seemed to be related to
the use of instructional representations . Overall , there was a strong relationship between
various components of CK and PCK . |