Investigating Elementary School Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge of Students about some Numbers

Abstract

The study investigated the competence of elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge of students about some numbers. Studies have shown that there are common misconceptions that students exhibit in dealing with numbers. This study wanted to determine how competent elementary teachers are in identifying and dealing with such students’ misconceptions. A sample of 30 teachers was randomly selected as participants in this study. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire designed for teachers to respond to through detail explanations in writing. Participants were presented with the problem situations and were expected to respond to the questions or tasks. The problem situations were a given problem and the hypothetical students’ solutions of the given problem. The study revealed that while some teachers were competent in addressing students’ misconceptions in the topic area, others had difficulties themselves in understanding the problem situations and the hypothetical students’ solutions.