Eric.ed.gov – “All of a Sudden They Got It”: Understanding Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of What It Means To Know (in) Math.

In a recent study at the University of Regina, preservice teachers were asked questions about their internship experiences of teaching mathematics. One question in the study focused on asking preservice teachers to recall their most meaningful experiences in the mathematics classroom during their internship, to which many responded with stories of how their students all of a sudden just “got” a concept and how this could even be visually detected. It is interesting to note the comparisons between their responses to this question about meaningful experiences and their responses to other questions concerning their images of math as a subject, their attitudes toward math, and their perceptions of what it means to know (in) math. Factors other than ability influence students’ approaches to challenges, their persistence (or withdrawal) when facing difficulties, and how they use cognitive skills. This paper explores goal theory and achievement motivation as a perspective for examining the issue of what it means to know (in) math. The question of the role of the teacher in how students focus their efforts in mathematics classrooms, or in setting the classroom climate, is also of significance to this discussion. This paper presents implications for the changing needs of teacher education programs, including the contexts of mathematics education courses as well as critical issues in curriculum development and implementation in general. (Author)