PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2012
Portland, Oregon
Understanding how precalculus teachers develop mathematic knowledge for teaching the idea of proportionality
Page: 2-235
The purpose of this study was to better understand how a precalculus teacher develops mathematical knowledge for teaching the idea of proportionality. We were also interested in understanding what instructional supports might foster shifts in a teacher’s thinking, and then how shifts in her thinking affect her classroom decisions. The teacher was using a research-based precalculus curriculum designed to help students acquire improved problem solving abilities, and deeper understandings and connections among the courses central ideas. The findings revealed that the research-based professional development and support tools for teaching precalculus can lead to improvements in the teacher’s mathematical content knowledge and aspects of her teaching practice. We also observed that the teacher was still making new mathematical connections during her second year of using the materials. We also observed that shifts in a teacher’s content knowledge do not always improve the teacher’s ability to leverage her student’s thinking during teaching.