"TEACHERS’ MATHEMATICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE AND STUDENTS’ PROGRESSION IN LEARNING OF FRACTION AND PROPORTION"

Abstract

"Proportional reasoning causes considerable difficulty for students. One reason for this is, that a lack of basic understanding of fractions in earlier years, causes difficulties in the middle years. Moreover, learning of fractions and proportion is a long-term process and students encounter it continuously from grade 1 to 9. It is also difficult to teach, and teachers’ mathematical content knowledge plays a crucial role in students’ learning of mathematics. The purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of teaching, and the influence of teachers’ mathematical content knowledge about fractions and proportion on students learning in progression from grade 4 and 5 to grade 8. The method contains pre- and post-tests for 86 students, classroom observations, checking students’ written solutions and interviews of 35 selected students after the post-test. The intervention includes construction of educational materials (EM), teachers participating in seminars-training related to EM and teacher’s implementation of EM. The EM contains tasks for students and a teachers’ guide with aims and goals for teaching and a theoretical background. Tools for analysis were a methodological design, Variation theory, and a theoretical approach, Mathematical Content Knowledge for Teaching. In focus of the analysis was students learning in progression, related to variation and crucial aspects of learning. Findings from this study shows that teachers’ mathematical content knowledge and their ability to identify the objects of learning and apply this in teaching is very important for students’ learning and progression in their learning. Most students showed an ability to learn, but their performance was intimately linked to teachers’ perception of the crucial aspects in teaching, and variation. Moreover, anomalies in students’ perceptions of basic concepts caused obstacles in their learning. Some anomalies seem to have followed students from middle School to grade 8. Finally, the study illustrated how anomalies arise if misconceptions are not noticed by teachers. The outcome of the study can explain more about crucial steps in teaching and learning of fraction and proportion. The study pay attention to challenges in mathematics teaching."