CONCEPTION AND MISCONCEPTION IN TEACHING ARITHMETIC AT PRIMARY LEVEL

Abstract

There is increasing emphasis on the importance of teaching arithmetic skills in primary schools. Today’s mathematics teachers are experiencing major changes not only in subject content they teach but also in the way they teach. Having deep understanding of mathematical knowledge is necessary but not sufficient to teach mathematics. This study was undertaken with the objectives to analyse if primary school teachers in Mizoram are competent, confident and prepared for the teaching of arithmetic.to identify the conception, misconception and alternative conceptions of teachers and students on arithmetic and identify the difficulty level of arithmetic faced by the teachers. 20 primary school was selected from each district. 160 primary school teachers (one from each school) was selected in order to investigate the teachers “competence, confidence and the levels of support they received. 320 students were selected for the study to find out the perceptions on conceptions mis conceptions and alternative conceptions. The study also directs towards the need of pedagogical content knowledge in the preparation of teachers, because inadequacy to link the content in actual classroom is dispiriting for both teacher and students.