The Mathematical Content Knowledge and Attitudes of New Zealand Pre-service Primary Teachers
Source: Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, Vol 14, No 2, 2012
This article presents data on the mathematical content knowledge and attitudes of pre-service primary teacher education students.
The assessment consisted of nine tasks, including 2-digit computations and proportional reasoning. Students rated their liking for mathematics at three time points: primary, secondary, and when assessed.
The results reveal that fewer than half the students liked mathematics tasks, but some low scorers were positive and some high scorers were negative about mathematics. Most students used algorithmic procedures to solve problems and several consistent misconceptions were identified. Performance was noticeably poor on adding common fractions and converting fractions to percentages using knowledge of common factors.