PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pre-service teachers’ meanings of area
Page: 800
An exploratory study was conducted of pre-service teachers’ understanding of area at a public university in the western United States. Forty-three pre-service teachers took part in the study. Their definitions of area and their responses to area-units tasks were recorded throughout the semester. We found a wide gap between pre-service teachers’ meaning of area and their use of area-units. Initially, pre-service teachers had weak definitions of area. Over the semester, these definitions were refined, but misconceptions about area and area-units were illuminated in activities involving non-standard units and areas of irregular regions. We conclude that, despite detailed models of children’s understanding of area, much work is needed to understand the learning trajectories of pre-service teachers, particularly when misconceptions exist.