Explanations of prospective middle school mathematics teachers for potential misconceptions on the concept of symmetry

Abstract

This study is an explanatory study, which follows a qualitative methodology and aims to reveal the explanations of prospective mathematics teachers for the potential misconceptions of secondary school students in relation to the concept of symmetry andthe correction of such misconceptions. The study group consisted of a total of 26 prospective middle school mathematics teachers, who were senior students. The data of the study were obtained from the open-ended test prepared by the researchers. Following the data analysis, it was found out that the majority of the participants failed to identify the mistakes of students and suggested the ways to “letter the corners of the shape and measure the distance based on the axis of symmetry” in order to correct these mistakes. Moreover, the study notably observed that the participants adopted practical solutions such as the use of a mirror, paper folding, and the use of unit squares more in teaching the concept of symmetry. It may be stated that the prospective teachers, in this way, overlooked the developmentof conceptual knowledge in students.

Keywords

• Concept of symmetry
• conceptual mistakes
• prospective middle school mathematics teachers