Primary Teachers and Their Mathematical Difficulties

• Main Authors: Mehmet Fatih Özmantar, Erhan Bingölbali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Gaziantep University 2009-12-01
• Series: Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences
• Subjects: Kesirler; matematik öğretim programı; öğretmenlerin matematiksel zorlukları; Fractions; new mathematics curriculum; teachers‟ mathematical difficulties
• Online Access: http://dergipark.gov.tr/jss/issue/24261/257172?publisher=gantep

This paper is a by-product of a research that aimed to explore primary teachers‟ preparedness of the implementation of the new curriculum with particular regard to their pedagogical content knowledge. The study is carried out with 216 primary teachers working in 104 different schools in a large province in Turkey. Teachers were applied a questionnaire that included open-ended questions on different mathematical concepts covered in the primary mathematics curriculum. We report only on the questionnaire item on fraction in this paper. The findings obtained from this item show that almost a quarter of teachers have serious mathematical difficulties and misconceptions with regard to fractions. We discuss the concerns that these findings raise in terms of the implementation of the new curriculum and the issue of teachers‟ professional development