Prospective teachers enter teacher education programs with previously
formed conceptions of geometry and its teaching. These conceptions help
them make sense of new information about teaching, their roles as teachers,
and their translation of mathematics into learning activities. The purpose of
this study was to investigate the relationships among preservice teachers'
conceptions of geometry, conceptions of teaching geometry and classroom
practices.
Ten preservice mathematics teachers completed a card sort task with an
interview. They also participated in a videotape task which consisted of
viewing three experienced geometry teachers on videotape. Four of these
preservice teachers were observed eight times each during their professional
internship experience. All interviews and observations were videotaped and
transcribed for data analysis.
Results of this study indicated a complex relationship between the
preservice teachers' conceptions of geometry and conceptions of teaching
geometry. The preservice teachers could not discuss their conceptions of
geometry without discussing the teaching of geometry. Their conceptions
about geometry and their belief that geometry was linear, in nature were so
strong that these views became connected with their views of teaching
geometry. Clearly, the preservice teachers' conceptions of geometry
influenced their conceptions of teaching geometry and the teaching of subject
matter influenced the preservice teachers' conceptions of geometry as well.
The relationship between the preservice teachers' conceptions of
geometry and their classroom practices was directly influenced by the
textbooks used. They believed geometry was ordered according to the
textbook and their classroom practices also followed the textbook.
The relationship of the preservice teachers' conceptions of geometry
teaching to classroom practices indicated that what the preservice teachers
said they believed and what they did in the classroom were not always
consistent. Their beliefs about teaching geometry rarely emerged in their
classroom practices. Finally, these preservice teachers had an overwhelming
concern with classroom management. This concern governed their thinking
about teaching. / Graduation date: 1996
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34611 |
| Date | 15 March 1996 |
| Creators | Scholz, Janet Maria |
| Contributors | Niess, Margaret L. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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