Using a Pedagogical Content Knowledge Assessment to Inform a Middle Grades Mathematics Teacher Preparation Program

• Main Authors: Woong Lim, Paula Guerra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Georgia Southern University 2013-10-01
• Series: Georgia Educational Researcher
• Subjects: Program evaluations; Mathematics teacher preparation; Pedagogical content knowledge; Mathematical knowledge for teaching; Middle grades mathematics pre-service teachers
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gerjournal/vol10/iss2/1

This study provided a springboard for teacher preparation evaluation studies by examining what content and pedagogical content knowledge mathematics pre-service teachers demonstrated in the 4 – 8 mathematics teacher preparation program at an urban research university. Twenty nine pre-service students participated in an assessment called Diagnostic Mathematics Assessments for Middle School Teachers. The study found that pre-service teachers displayed the highest scores for Memorized/Factual Knowledge, followed by Conceptual Understanding, Reasoning/Problem Solving, and Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Pre-service teachers had higher Memorized/Factual Knowledge than Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The pre-service teachers’ overall content knowledge was not strong, and the two lowest-performing content knowledge areas were Geometry/Measurement and Probability/Statistics. In conclusion, the picture emerging from this study was of pre-service teachers demonstrating low knowledge of content and pedagogy, thereby placing the program in difficulty of building a pedagogical prowess upon the mathematical content.