Abstract
Knowledge and understanding of mathematical operations serves as a pre-requisite for the successful translation of algebraic word problems. This study explored pre-service teachers’ ability to recognize mathematical operations as well as use of those capabilities in constructing algebraic expressions, equations, and their solutions. The outcome of the study indicated that pre-service mathematics teachers were unable to identify words/phrases that represent mathematical operations fluently in isolated cases, construct algebraic expression, equations and their solutions from word problems. It was expected that college courses would have profound influence on their performance, but that does not augment positively.
Highlights
High and middle secondary school Mathematics teachers in Nigeria are mostly subject specialists
Mathematics‐content education at a senior/junior secondary school level in Nigeria plays a vital role in setting the phase for developing individuals that contribute towards laying the foundation for national development
It was an attempt to actualize the holistic goals of national policy on education, as well as, most recently, objectives of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
Summary
High (senior) and middle (junior) secondary school Mathematics teachers in Nigeria are mostly subject specialists. Mathematics‐content education at a senior/junior secondary school level in Nigeria plays a vital role in setting the phase for developing individuals that contribute towards laying the foundation for national development (economics, sciences, technology, politics, humanities and social sciences, etc). Delivering sound mathematics education to students would optimize these goals, but such, would not be attainable without well trained and knowledgeable mathematics teachers. It is expected that pre‐service teachers for secondary and junior secondary schools are, by virtue of their training, able to teach these contents of mathematics curriculum fluently. There are limited studies that assess mathematics content knowledge of pre‐service mathematics teachers in Nigeria. This study is a sequential explanatory mixed methods design to effectively investigate pre‐service teachers’ content knowledge in algebraic word problems. Concepts related to algebraic word problems constitute a good portion of national examinations such as WASSCE (West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination); NECO (National Examination Commission) and UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination)
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