We need to make up for the gap: University student teachers’ difficulties associated with basic algebraic manipulations

Abstract

With the increasing number of students enrolling in South African Higher Education institutions, it is essential to determine what level of mathematical knowledge gaps and understanding they bring from secondary school level. This was the context for a study of first year undergraduate mathematics education students at the University of Limpopo. In this paper, we present our autoethnographical experiences of lecturing calculus courses for a teacher preparation programme. The patterns that emerged from our interactions with students revealed that they experienced difficulties in understanding basic algebraic procedures and recognising structure to solve algebraic problems in the context of differentiation. This made us aware that we needed to configure effective strategies to make up for the identified elementary mathematics knowledge gaps, which we assumed students brought with from Grade 12. Our quest to make up for the algebraic knowledge gaps does not only serve the purpose of enabling our student teachers’ mathematical knowledge, but to ensure that they develop good knowledge base needed to teach the subject during their training as well as once they qualify as teachers.

Keywords

• Algebraic manipulation
• Prospective teachers
• Differentiation
• Structure
• Mathematics education

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