RUME 26
2024
Omaha, Nebraska
Analysis Across Geometry Textbooks to Link Content, Curriculum and Children’s Reasoning
Page: 1266
In this study, we looked for how textbooks used in geometry content courses for elementary school teacher candidates might support their pedagogical content knowledge. The conceptual framework of this study is Ball et al.’s (2008) practice-based theoretical model that refines pedagogical content knowledge which blends content knowledge, pedagogy and curriculum that highlights teacher’s knowledge of standards, grade levels when particular topics are taught, and more. We collected the common used textbooks reported by U.S. mathematics courses instructors for elementary teachers (Max & Newton, 2017; Authors, 2023). Drawing from relational content analysis methodology (Elo et al., 2014), we first analyze the content of five geometry textbooks and identify the instances of pedagogical content knowledge elements while considering the conceptual framework and examine the differences and similarities across the textbooks. Analysis revealed that of 780 total codes, the highest percentages of codes focused on children’s ideas which provides many examples of how children reason through geometric concepts. The second-highest code percentages focused on the teacher’s role and classroom connections, such as discussing teachers’ responses to children’s ideas to advance the latter’s geometric reasoning. The third-highest percentage of codes focused on the use of learning standards, which was often listed next to each relevant book session to show how standards could be linked with instructional activities in progressing through grades K–5. The fourth-highest percentages were related to the code for children’s written work which would allow prospective teachers to see concrete examples of children’s reasoning through geometric concepts. The code with the least frequency related to the use of assessment questions, providing sample questions from actual standardized tests for K–5 students to familiarize prospective teachers with the content for different grade levels.