Evaluation of Prospective Teachers' Content Knowledge in the Context of Students' Errors: Geometry and Measurement

• Published in: Cumhuriyet international journal of education 2023-01, Vol.12 (2), p.462-476
• Main Authors: Öztürk, Tuğba, Demirel, Damla
• Format: Article
• Language: Turkish
• Subjects: Elementary School Mathematics; Error Correction; Geometry; Knowledge; Students; Teachers; Teaching
• ISSN: 2147-1606
• DOI: 10.30703/cije.1217341

Having in-depth knowledge for each subject of a teacher is directly related to the teacher's content knowledge. Content knowledge includes the components of being able to recognize and explain the students' errors. The purpose of the study was to examine prospective teachers' content knowledge about geometry and measurement learning in terms of student errors. The study employed the case study method. The participants of the study were 86 prospective primary mathematics teachers who took the Geometry and Measurement Teaching course. The data collection tool of the study consisted of 7 scenario type questions, which included student errors in geometry and measurement learning. Scenario type questions were designed on the concepts that students often made mistakes. These concepts were angle measure, perimeter, the units of measurement, reflective symmetry, similarity, hierarchy of quadrilaterals, and geometric solids. The data were analyzed in the context of the themes as identifying the error, providing the justification for the error, and correcting the error. The findings highlighted that the prospective teachers showed very high success in the themes of identifying the error and correcting the error. Prospective teachers could not show the desired success in providing the justification for the students' error. In this regard, it can be suggested to design activities that include student errors in teaching courses of undergraduate education. In these activities, discussions on providing the justification for the student error can be made.