Using a Pedagogical Content Knowledge Assessment to Inform a Middle Grades Mathematics Teacher Preparation Program

Authors

Woong Lim, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow
Paula Guerra, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow

Abstract

This study provided a springboard for teacher preparation evaluation studies by examining what content and pedagogical content knowledge mathematics pre-service teachers demonstrated in the 4 – 8 mathematics teacher preparation program at an urban research university. Twenty nine pre-service students participated in an assessment called Diagnostic Mathematics Assessments for Middle School Teachers. The study found that pre-service teachers displayed the highest scores for Memorized/Factual Knowledge, followed by Conceptual Understanding, Reasoning/Problem Solving, and Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Pre-service teachers had higher Memorized/Factual Knowledge than Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The pre-service teachers’ overall content knowledge was not strong, and the two lowest-performing content knowledge areas were Geometry/Measurement and Probability/Statistics. In conclusion, the picture emerging from this study was of pre-service teachers demonstrating low knowledge of content and pedagogy, thereby placing the program in difficulty of building a pedagogical prowess upon the mathematical content.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Lim, Woong and Guerra, Paula (2013) "Using a Pedagogical Content Knowledge Assessment to Inform a Middle Grades Mathematics Teacher Preparation Program," Georgia Educational Researcher: Vol. 10: Iss. 2, Article 1.
DOI: 10.20429/ger.2013.100201
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gerjournal/vol10/iss2/1