TPACK and Pre-Service Teacher Mathematics Education: Defining a Signature Pedagogy for Mathematics Education Using ICT and Based on the Metaphor “Mathematics Is a Language”

Abstract

National professional standards for teachers in Australia (AITSL, 2011) expect teacher education graduates to demonstrate technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). Those standards have emerged concurrently with the development of a new Australian mathematics curriculum. Thus, the expectation is that graduates can demonstrate the use of information and communication technologies in mathematics teaching and learning. The authors argue that “signature pedagogy” (Shulman, 2005) is the use of a key metaphor which views mathematics as a language and suggests that mathematics should be taught and learned as any other language. This article provides a summary of the findings of an action research project involving two cohorts of undergraduate mathematics education students in an Australian university. Data collected was used to inform targeted changes to improve the technological pedagogical approach employed by the course team across two offers of the course to enhance student learning and align the course with the expectations for graduate teachers. The implications of this action research are provided to inform the design and implementation of pre-service teacher education courses with respect to the development of TPACK capabilities specifically in mathematics education.