From traditional math exercises to meaning-centred tasks, helping preservice teachers increase in conceptual knowledge

grantor: University of TorontoMany students enter their preservice teacher training with a deficiency in mathematical subject matter knowledge. The purpose of this action research project was to explore how, or even if, a particular constructivist-based teaching model could help preservice teachers gain understanding of mathematical concepts. According to the model, prospective teachers were to develop tasks from traditional math book exercises, tasks that would motivate children to actively construct the concepts represented by the mathematics encountered in elementary school mathematics. As they analyzed math exercises, strategized concrete representations for the concepts discovered, and developed meaning-centred tasks, prospective teachers gained greater understanding of mathematical concepts. This thesis is a case study of the progress made by three female, elementary school, preservice teachers. An additional emphasis is a comparison of various concepts as they were discovered by the novice teachers and the articulation of those concepts by various professional sources.M.A