Examining preservice teachers' responses to area conservation tasks. (12th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hong, Dae S.; Runnalls, Cristina
• Is Part Of: School science and mathematics. Volume 120:Number 5(2020)
• Page Start: 262
• Page End: 272
• Publication Date: 2020-05-12
• Subjects: area conservation -- preservice teacher education -- teacher knowledge; Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Periodicals; Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Periodicals; 507.12
• DOI: 10.1111/ssm.12409
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0036-6803

Abstract

Abstract: The purpose of this work was to explore how elementary preservice teachers responded to area conservation tasks. We administered written pre‐assessments, followed by semi‐structured interviews with 23 preservice teachers, asking them to respond to and reason with area conservation tasks. Findings highlighted several interesting preservice teachers' struggles when assessing area conservation tasks. In many cases, preservice teachers exhibited struggles similar to students, especially with regards to the justification of their area conservation claims. We provide recommendations to assist preservice teachers in their development of mathematical content knowledge in their teacher education programs, so that in the future they may better plan area lessons that promote procedural fluency from conceptual understanding in area measurement.