Middle School Mathematics Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge Regarding Student Knowledge about Quadrilaterals

Abstract

Abstract

Pedagogical content knowledge is consisted of two components: student knowledge and teaching strategies. Student knowledge was defined to sub-categories as connecting prior knowledge to new knowledge, noticing students’ mistakes, identifying students’ difficulties of understanding. The aim of this study is to examine middle school mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in terms of student knowledge regarding quadrilaterals.

Interview method was used for data acquisition. 30 middle school mathematics teachers working at 12 different schools in Turkey participated in this study. The questions asked the teachers during interviews were prepared by researchers in accordance with student knowledge component of the pedagogical content knowledge. Content analysis was used to analyze the data acquired in this study.

The study results show that teachers pointed out that they teach lessons taking into consideration their students’ previous knowledge and  new knowledge they do by “reminding quadrilaterals students previously learnt” or “making association between similar quadrilaterals. Based on the data, the teachers pointed out the students’ mistakes about quadrilaterals were group under three headings. These are, mistakes regarding defining quadrilaterals, mistakes regarding visual property and, classification of quadrilaterals and family relation within quadrilaterals.  The students’ difficulties inferred from teachers’ responses are summarized in two groups: difficulties identified related with trapezoid and difficulties identified related with other quadrilaterals.

 

Key words: Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Student Knowledge, Quadrilaterals

Keywords

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Ortaokul Matematik Öğretmenlerinin Dörtgenler Konusunda Pedagojik Alan Bilgilerinin Öğrenci Bilgisi Bileşeninde İncelenmesi

Öz

Pedagojik alan bilgisini farklı bileşenlerde inceleyen çalışmalarda ortak iki bileşenin varlığı dikkat çekmektedir. Bu bileşenler; öğrenci bilgisi ve öğretim stratejileri bilgisi bileşeni olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Öğrenci bilgisi bileşeni öğrencilerin ön bilgileri- yeni bilgileri arasında kurulan bağlantılar, konuya yönelik öğrenci hataları ve öğrencilerin konuya özgü yaşadıkları anlama güçlükleri alt bileşenlerinden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmanın amacı ortaokul matematik öğretmenlerinin dörtgenler konusunda pedagojik alan bilgilerinin öğrenci bilgisi bileşeninde incelenmesidir. Nitel araştırma yöntemi, görüşme metodu kullanılmıştır. Katılımcılar, Türkiye’de bir ilde 12 farklı ortaokulda çalışan 30 matematik öğretmenidir. İçerik analizi kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlara göre; öğretmelerin öğrencilerin ön bilgileriyle, yeni öğrendikleri arasında bağlantı kurduklarını, bunu, “önceden öğrenilen dörtgenler” ya da “benzer dörtgenleri ilişkilendirerek” kurdukları belirlenmiştir. Öğretmenler dörtgenlere yönelik öğrenci hatalarını dörtgenleri tanımlama, dörtgenleri görselleştirme ve dörtgenleri sınıflandırma- aile ilişkisi kurma hataları olmak üzere üç başlıkta gruplamışlardır. Öğrencilerin konuya özgü yaşadıkları anlama güçlükleri ise yamuğa ilişkin anlama güçlükleri ve diğer dörtgenlere ilişkin anlama güçlükleri olmak üzere iki grupta incelenmiştir. Farklı çalışmalarla, öğretmenlerin dörtgenler konusundaki farklı öğrenci bilgileri ortaya çıkarılıp, bu çalışmanın sonucu zenginleştirilebilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Pedagojik Alan Bilgisi, Öğrenci Bilgisi, Dörtgenler

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