The Purpose, Design and Use of Examples in the Teaching of Elementary Mathematics

This empirical paper considers the different purposes for which teachers use examples in elementary mathematics teaching, and how well the actual examples used fit these intended purposes. For this study, 24 mathematics lessons taught by prospective elementary school teachers were videotaped. In the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational studies in mathematics 2008-10, Vol.69 (2), p.149-163
Main Author: Rowland, Tim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beginning Teachers
Children
Education
Educational research
Elementary School Mathematics
Elementary School Teachers
Grounded Theory
Mathematical knowledge
Mathematics
Mathematics Education
Mathematics Instruction
Mathematics teachers
Mathematics tests
Numeracy
Preservice Teachers
Teacher education
Teaching Methods
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Summary:This empirical paper considers the different purposes for which teachers use examples in elementary mathematics teaching, and how well the actual examples used fit these intended purposes. For this study, 24 mathematics lessons taught by prospective elementary school teachers were videotaped. In the spirit of grounded theory, the purpose of the analysis of these lessons was to discover, and to construct theories around, the ways that these novice teachers could be seen to draw upon their mathematics teaching knowledgebase in their lesson preparation and in their observed classroom instruction. A highlypervasive dimension of the findings was these teachers' choice and use of examples. Four categories of uses of examples are identified and exemplified: these are related to different kinds of teacher awareness.
ISSN:0013-1954
1573-0816
DOI:10.1007/s10649-008-9148-y