The Changing Perceptions of Prospective Middle School Mathematics Teachers on Their own Knowledge of History of Mathematics: The Role of Pedagogical Experiences

Abstract

This study aims to explore what the perceptions of prospective middle school mathematics teachers about their own knowledge of history of mathematics before and after History of Mathematics course with Pedagogical Experiences and how their perceptions change via these experiences. The research was carried out with 32 prospective teachers in the last year of the teacher education program. In the study, the data were collected through pre- and post-reflective thinking reports, researchers’ notes, and classroom discussions. The results showed that prospective teachers think that a mathematics teacher should know history of mathematics to (i) gain general culture and respect, (ii) strengthen their content knowledge, (iii) strengthen the teaching process, and (iv) to support students’ affective dispositions towards mathematics. After the history of mathematics course with pedagogical experiences, there were certain changes in the tendencies in these thoughts compared to the thoughts provided before the course. On the other hand, the results of this study showed that the prospective teachers identified their knowledge of history of mathematics mostly superficial and moderate levels before the course. After the course, four common changes were found in the perceptions about their knowledge of history of mathematics. They were grouped as follows: (i) from superficial to moderate; (ii) from moderate to moderate; (iii) from moderate to deep and (iv) from deep to moderate. The results showed that prospective teachers were interested in how they could use mathematics in their lessons instead of just seeing history of mathematics like a general culture component as they experienced pedagogical experiences related to the history of mathematics. Therefore, since prospective teachers realized that history of mathematics requires serious knowledge and experiences, they changed their perceptions about their knowledge of history of mathematics by criticizing their initial perceptions.

Keywords

• matematik tarihi, öğretmen adayları, pedagojik deneyimler