The purpose of this study was to examine pre-service mathematics teachers&amp / #8217 / subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and the relationships between the two on multiplication and division of fractions. For this purpose, pre-service teachers&amp / #8217 / understanding of key facts, concepts, principles, and proofs, their knowledge on common (mis)conceptions and difficulties held by the elementary students, their strategies of teaching these concepts, and representations they use to reason their understanding on multiplication and division of fractions were examined. Qualitative case study was performed where / data was collected from the pre-service teachers at the end of the spring semester of 2004-2005. Pre-service teachers were senior students enrolled in a teacher education program at a public university. Results revealed that pre-service teachers could easily symbolize and solve the basic questions on multiplication and division of fractions. However, in terms of pre-service teachers&amp / #8217 / interpretation and reasoning of key facts and principles on multiplication and division of fractions, their subject matter knowledge could not be regarded as conceptually deep. Furthermore, although pre-service teachers have strong belief that they should teach multiplication and division of fractions conceptually, where the logical background of the operations is explained, they do not have sufficient knowledge to represent and explain these topics and relationships conceptually.

Since English has risen as the dominant language in the world, the demand for English language teachers has grown rapidly especially in the last three decades. Hence, English language teacher education has become an important concern in the Turkish national education system, which has forced the governments to implement a series of reforms. One of these was the Foreign Language Education (FLE) curriculum designed by the Higher Education Council (HEC), forwarded to all FLE departments in Turkish universities to be carried out starting from 1998-99. This curriculum was also used for pre-service English language teacher education in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University (METU). However, a large scale evaluation study was not conducted on the effectiveness of the program or the competence of its graduates. This study primarily aimed at reaching the FLE graduates from 2002 to 2006 to investigate to what extent they perceive themselves competent as EFL teachers and to what extent they find the FLE program components successful in helping them gain these competencies. Besides, it also intended to reach the employers of FLE graduates to explore how competent these graduates are viewed and how successful METU FLE program is considered in serving its graduates gain teacher competencies. For this aim quantitative and qualitative data were collected through two graduate questionnaires, and graduate and elite employer interviews. The findings of the first graduate questionnaire revealed that the FLE graduates perceived themselves competent in most of HEC&rsquo / s competence areas, while the open-ended questionnaire items and interview data demonstrated a need for improvement for competencies of language knowledge, spoken use of English, classroom management, assessment and instruction. It was also seen in these two types of data that graduates&rsquo / perception of their strengths and weaknesses in HEC&rsquo / s foreign language teacher competencies and their need for developing other competencies depend on the level they teach, the type of school they work at and the length of experience they have. Similarly, some of the employers, according to the institution where they have elite positions, indicated a high level of satisfaction with the FLE graduates&rsquo / competence in language and subject knowledge, inclass and out-of class competencies, while some of them emphasized a need for improvement in competencies of language knowledge and use, and putting theory into practice. In addition, although the program was reported to have a strong and positive role on the development of professional competencies in the teacher candidates, it was also stated that the five components and some courses of the program need revisions in terms of their content, methodology of instruction and assessment. Moreover, the need for communication among the components of the program was also expressed, as the graduates mention unnecessary overlaps among some courses. In the light of these findings, some suggestions are made towards program improvement.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a mathematics teaching methods course on pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / content knowledge for teaching mathematics (CKTM). In order to accomplish this purpose, pre-service mathematics teachers&rsquo / understanding of basic concepts and procedures in school mathematics, use of mathematical definitions, presentation of mathematical content to students, identification of common errors, misconceptions and solution strategies and evaluation of unusual solution methods were examined with the help of a multiple choice test. The data were collected from 43 senior pre-service mathematics teachers from a teacher education program at a large public university in Ankara. The participants were given an 83-item test to measure their content knowledge for mathematics teaching at the beginning and after the methods course. The purpose of the pre- and post-test assessment was to measure the amount of change in the participants&#039 / knowledge for mathematics teaching. The test was developed and piloted at the University of Michigan in the USA for Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) Project. Quantitative data analysis techniques were used to answer the research questions. The results indicated that there was a significant effect of the mathematics teaching methods course on pre-service teachers&rsquo / content knowledge for teaching mathematics. Moreover, the findings showed that there is no significant mean difference between male and female pre-service teachers, and between the pre-service teachers who have taken at least one mathematics teaching elective course and the ones who have not taken any elective course related to mathematics teaching in terms of their CKTM. Also, the study showed that there is a significant positive relationship between pre-service teachers&rsquo / CKTM and their academic achievement on undergraduate mathematics content courses. The study is expected to make important contributions to the literature by providing information about whether the methods courses significantly contribute to pre-service teachers&rsquo / understanding of knowledge for mathematics teaching. Moreover, the findings of the study is hoped to inform teacher educators and policy makers about the needs and improvements in teacher preparation programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of changes in preservice elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / views and reflections about elementary mathematics classes based on their observations in School Experience I and School Experience II courses. Specifically, this study investigated pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / views and reflections about instruction, assessment, and classroom management issues in elementary mathematics classes based on their observations in School Experience I and School Experience II courses. The sample consisted of 19 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers from a teacher education program at Middle East Technical University (METU). Pre-service elementary mathematics teachers involved in this study made their observations in their cooperating schools for 3 months during the spring semester of 2004-2005 academic year and the fall semester of 2007-2008 academic year. The data were collected by means of their School Experience I and School Experience II course reports. The results indicated that although there was commonality in the views and reflections of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / about instruction, assessment, and classroom management issues in elementary mathematics classes, there were differences in their knowledge in the way they perceive instruction, assessment, and classroom management as they progressed through their education. In other words, when School Experience I course reports were compared with School Experience II course reports, pre-service teachers perceived the mathematics instruction as more student-centered and they gave more importance to the alternative assessment strategies in their School Experience II course reports. Furthermore, they defended more positive classroom management methods in their School Experience II course reports.

The main purpose of the study was to investigate pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / personal efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies about using concrete models in teaching mathematics. Data were collected from the pre-service teachers in the middle of the spring semester of 2008-2009. Pre-service teachers were junior students enrolled in elementary mathematics teaching program at a public university. Six instructional sessions based on using concrete models in teaching mathematics were carried out during a three week period. In this study, the researcher was also the teacher of the instruction at the same time. A survey on pre-service mathematics teachers&rsquo / efficacy beliefs about using concrete models was administered to the students before and after the instruction to evaluate the contribution of the instruction on pre-service teachers&rsquo / efficacies. After the instruction, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The present study demonstrated that the instruction based on using concrete models had positive contributions on the pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies about using concrete models in teaching mathematics. In addition, results revealed that pre-service elementary mathematics teachers had confidence in themselves about using concrete models both as learners and as teachers. Moreover, they believed that using concrete models in teaching mathematics would have positive consequences in teaching process and students&rsquo / learning. However, the interview data indicated that, pre-service teachers had relatively low personal efficacies and outcome expectancies about classroom management, when the concrete models were involved in the instruction.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια παρατηρείται μία μεταρρύθμιση στα Αναλυτικά Προγράμματα Σπουδών των Μαθηματικών, διεθνώς, ως προς την θέση που κατέχουν τα Στοχαστικά Μαθηματικά (Στατιστική και Πιθανότητες) σε αυτά. Στη χώρα μας αυτή η αλλαγή συντελείται με την εισαγωγή του νέου Α.Π.Σ. (2011) των Μαθηματικών για την υποχρεωτική εκπαίδευση, στο οποίο η Στατιστική κατέχει ιδιαίτερη θέση. Για να μπορέσει, όμως, το νέο Α.Π.Σ. να εφαρμοστεί με αποτελεσματικότητα είναι απαραίτητο πρώτα οι δάσκαλοι να έχουν κατανοήσει σε βάθος το αντικείμενο της Στατιστικής που καλούνται να διδάξουν. Με αφορμή την διαπίστωση αυτή, στην παρούσα διατριβή διερευνήθηκαν οι γνώσεις που χρειάζεται να έχουν οι υποψήφιοι δάσκαλοι και αξιολογήθηκαν οι υπάρχουσες γνώσεις τους σε σχέση με την ύλη της Στατιστικής που καλούνται να διδάξουν μετά το πέρας των σπουδών τους αλλά και υπό το πρίσμα του Στατιστικού Γραμματισμού. Για τον προσδιορισμό των γνώσεων που χρειάζονται να έχουν οι υποψήφιοι δάσκαλοι αναλύθηκαν τα Α.Π.Σ. (Ελλάδας και χωρών του εξωτερικού) και τα σχολικά εγχειρίδια ως προς τη θέση της Στατιστικής σε αυτά. Επιπλέον, διερευνήθηκαν οι Μεγάλες Ιδέες της Στατιστικής μέσω της βιβλιογραφικής ανασκόπησης. Η διαμόρφωση του θεωρητικού πλαισίου στηρίχτηκε στο πώς ορίζεται η γνώση για την διδασκαλία των Μαθηματικών αλλά και ειδικότερα της Στατιστικής, στην έννοια του Στατιστικού Γραμματισμού και στον διαχωρισμό της γνώσης στην εννοιολογική και διαδικαστική διάσταση της. Η μεθοδολογική προσέγγιση που χρησιμοποιήθηκε εντάσσεται στην ποιοτική έρευνα και βασίστηκε σε έναν αναδυόμενο ερευνητικό σχεδιασμό. Για τους σκοπούς της έρευνας κατασκευάστηκε και διανεμήθηκε ένα ερωτηματολόγιο με ερωτήσεις ανοικτού τύπου σε 100 υποψήφιους δασκάλους και στη συνέχεια διενεργήθηκαν συνεντεύξεις με 15 από αυτούς. Για την ανάλυση των απαντήσεων των συμμετεχόντων χρησιμοποιήθηκε η ταξινομία SOLO (Biggs & Collis, 1982, 1991) σε συνδυασμό με μία μέθοδο αξιολόγησης που έχει προταθεί από την Garfield (1993). Μέσω των αποτελεσμάτων της παρούσας έρευνας αναδείχθηκε ότι η στατιστική γνώση του περιεχομένου των συμμετεχόντων δεν ήταν επαρκής ενώ η παιδαγωγική γνώση του περιεχομένου τους ήταν ελλιπής. Συγκεκριμένα, οι συμμετέχοντες αντιμετώπισαν δυσκολία στο να αξιολογήσουν τις λανθασμένες απαντήσεις μαθητών και να προτείνουν την ενδεδειγμένη λύση. Επιπροσθέτως, σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις επαναλάμβαναν τα λάθη και τις παρανοήσεις των μαθητών. Προέκυψε, επομένως, ότι δεν είναι σε θέση να αναπτύξουν τον Στατιστικό Γραμματισμό στους μελλοντικούς μαθητές τους. Έχοντας ως βάση αυτά τα αποτελέσματα διατυπώθηκε μία ολοκληρωμένη πρόταση εισαγωγής, στα Παιδαγωγικά Τμήματα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, μαθημάτων που το περιεχόμενο τους θα εστιάζει στην μάθηση και την διδασκαλία της Στατιστικής για το Δημοτικό σχολείο. / This thesis explores the knowledge needed for teaching statistics at the elementary (primary) school level. It is a fact, that statistics has a relatively short history in the elementary school curriculum, compared with mathematics. Recent research in statistics education has prompted a worldwide move away from the teaching of statistical skills, towards a deeper understanding of statistical notions aiming to the statistical literacy of students and subsequently adults. The new nationally mandated curriculum of Greece reflects this move. Consequently, little is known about the knowledge needed to teach statistics effectively. An analytic study of the current literature, including national standards and school textbooks, was conducted to identify the important aspects of statistical knowledge for teaching. Ideas from three contemporary areas of research, namely teacher knowledge (content and pedagogical) in relation to mathematics and statistics, statistical literacy and procedural and conceptual knowledge are incorporated in a framework for exploring knowledge for teaching statistics and for assessing this kind of knowledge. The study’s methodological approach is based on an emergent research design. A written assessment instrument was developed and administered to a sample of 100 prospective elementary school teachers. The purpose of the instrument was to gather data in order to describe teachers’ conceptions for teaching statistics at the level of elementary school. A subset of the sample (n = 15) was interviewed to provide deeper insight into their conceptions and to assure reliability of the instrument. The data produced in response to the written item were examined in light of the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 1982, 1991) and a scoring method offered by Garfield (1993). The results of this study indicate that prospective elementary school teachers may not be prepared to teach statistics at the level of depth that is needed according to the new curriculum. Their statistical content knowledge is not enough while their pedagogical content knowledge is limited. In particular, participants showed difficulties in judging students’ answers and identifying students’ misconceptions. There are several implications that are drawn from the results including the importance of a statistics course during teacher preparation programs and careful consideration during the creation of curricular materials, like new textbooks.

The special learning needs in Initial Teacher Education of international postgraduate students whose own education was linguistically and culturally different to that of New Zealand students are often unacknowledged and under-researched. This qualitative study, based on narrative inquiry, presents case studies of six participants from six different countries, languages and cultures. The findings point to challenges faced by pre-service teacher education students from other languages and cultures. Tensions created by language difficulties, new pedagogies and social and educational cultural differences lead to feelings, at times, of disorientation, heightened “otherness” and unease. Students who are crossing the border between one culture and pedagogical belief system to another require specific support. This study did, however, find evidence of students developing new understandings about teaching and learning. The findings carry implications for the content, delivery and pedagogy of Initial Teacher Education programmes. The introduction of a Foundation Course and a Support Group, modelling of good practice by ITE lecturers using a variety of interactive teaching strategies and targeted reflective practices are suggested. In a time of teacher shortages, changing demographics in schools and the changing nature of university-based ITE it is important that the assumption that one size fits all in ITE all needs to be put aside. From the perspectives of social justice and acceptance of diversity it is timely to pay attention in ITE to the learning of students from other languages and cultures. This study suggests ways of moving towards this goal.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The post 1994 educational reforms in South Africa brought about a new thinking in the basic education system. The Curriculum 2005 introduces General Education and Training (GET) band comprising of Grades R-9 and Further Education and Training (FET) comprising of Grades 10-12. These changes necessitates that greater energy and investment be made in the development of appropriate programmes for professional development of educators at both pre-service and in-service levels in order to increase educator reorientation and competency in educating learners in the new education system. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of educator professional development programmes (pre- and in-service) on Grade 10 Life Orientation educators with regard to the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in the Francis Baard District. The study also aims to determine barriers encountered in the implementation of in-service professional development programmes for Grade 10 Life Orientation educators. The study consists of a literature review concerning the National Curriculum Statement and professional in-service training programmes. A quantitative approach was followed to collect the relevant data. Grade 10 Life Orientation educators in the Francis Baard District form the population of this study. Two distinct conclusions are drawn from the findings of the study, namely; • Educators professional programmes (pre- and in-service) had very little impact on the knowledge, skills and abilities of Grade 10 Life Orientation educators for the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in the Francis Baard District. • Pre- and in- service educator professional development programmes attended by Grade 10 Life Orientation educators did not substantially improve their capabilities mentioned above to implement the National Curriculum Statement. Four categories of recommendations are suggested, namely: • The responsibility of the Department of Education towards the professional in-service training programmes. • The teacher training institutions' responsibility towards the Life Orientation teachers. • The formation of support groups in the different regions in the Francis Baard District. • Further research should be conducted to improve successful implementation of educator professional development programmes ( pre- and in-service) on Grade 10 Life Orientation educators. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.