What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem?
The teaching of probability is conditioned by teachers’ mathematical knowledge. In this paper, an exploratory study is carried out with prospective teachers. A training task was designed requiring them to create and solve a probability problem using the values of euro coins, which was adapted to stu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-12-01
|
| Series: | Mathematics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/24/3300 |
| _version_ | 1797502675479166976 |
|---|---|
| author | Marlén Alonso-Castaño Pedro Alonso Maria Mellone Luis J. Rodríguez-Muñiz |
| author_facet | Marlén Alonso-Castaño Pedro Alonso Maria Mellone Luis J. Rodríguez-Muñiz |
| author_sort | Marlén Alonso-Castaño |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The teaching of probability is conditioned by teachers’ mathematical knowledge. In this paper, an exploratory study is carried out with prospective teachers. A training task was designed requiring them to create and solve a probability problem using the values of euro coins, which was adapted to students aged 11 to 12. The study aimed at determining what mathematical knowledge prospective teachers show when dealing with the task. The data were collected through the Moodle online Campus. We framed the data analysis in the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching model and we used content analysis as the methodological approach. The results indicate that, despite finding evidence of adequate common and specialised mathematical knowledge, in approximately half of the prospective teachers participating in the study, too many of them still show a lack of knowledge in both subdomains. There was also little evidence of knowledge of the curriculum. The main finding of the research is that, when prospective teachers get involved in complex creative tasks, they mobilised together specialised and common mathematical knowledge, working into different mathematical processes such as problem posing and solving, communication, and argumentation, which reinforces the need to continue working on these types of complex tasks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:37:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c5ff4667aac94307a59e20066bced8f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7390 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:37:33Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mathematics |
| spelling | doaj.art-c5ff4667aac94307a59e20066bced8f42023-11-23T09:27:10ZengMDPI AGMathematics2227-73902021-12-01924330010.3390/math9243300What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem?Marlén Alonso-Castaño0Pedro Alonso1Maria Mellone2Luis J. Rodríguez-Muñiz3Department of Statistics and O.R. and Mathematics Education, University of Oviedo, c/ Jesús Arias de Velasco, s/n, 33005 Oviedo, Asturias, SpainDepartment of Mathematics, University of Oviedo, 33203 Oviedo, Asturias, SpainDipartimento di Matematica e Applicazioni “R. Caccioppoli”, Università degli Studi Napoli “Federico II” Studio 156, Via Cintia, Monte S. Angelo, 80126 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Statistics and O.R. and Mathematics Education, University of Oviedo, c/ Jesús Arias de Velasco, s/n, 33005 Oviedo, Asturias, SpainThe teaching of probability is conditioned by teachers’ mathematical knowledge. In this paper, an exploratory study is carried out with prospective teachers. A training task was designed requiring them to create and solve a probability problem using the values of euro coins, which was adapted to students aged 11 to 12. The study aimed at determining what mathematical knowledge prospective teachers show when dealing with the task. The data were collected through the Moodle online Campus. We framed the data analysis in the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching model and we used content analysis as the methodological approach. The results indicate that, despite finding evidence of adequate common and specialised mathematical knowledge, in approximately half of the prospective teachers participating in the study, too many of them still show a lack of knowledge in both subdomains. There was also little evidence of knowledge of the curriculum. The main finding of the research is that, when prospective teachers get involved in complex creative tasks, they mobilised together specialised and common mathematical knowledge, working into different mathematical processes such as problem posing and solving, communication, and argumentation, which reinforces the need to continue working on these types of complex tasks.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/24/3300common content knowledgeprobabilityprospective teachersspecialised content knowledgetask design |
| spellingShingle | Marlén Alonso-Castaño Pedro Alonso Maria Mellone Luis J. Rodríguez-Muñiz What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem? Mathematics common content knowledge probability prospective teachers specialised content knowledge task design |
| title | What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem? |
| title_full | What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem? |
| title_fullStr | What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem? |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem? |
| title_short | What Mathematical Knowledge Do Prospective Teachers Reveal When Creating and Solving a Probability Problem? |
| title_sort | what mathematical knowledge do prospective teachers reveal when creating and solving a probability problem |
| topic | common content knowledge probability prospective teachers specialised content knowledge task design |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/24/3300 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marlenalonsocastano whatmathematicalknowledgedoprospectiveteachersrevealwhencreatingandsolvingaprobabilityproblem AT pedroalonso whatmathematicalknowledgedoprospectiveteachersrevealwhencreatingandsolvingaprobabilityproblem AT mariamellone whatmathematicalknowledgedoprospectiveteachersrevealwhencreatingandsolvingaprobabilityproblem AT luisjrodriguezmuniz whatmathematicalknowledgedoprospectiveteachersrevealwhencreatingandsolvingaprobabilityproblem |