TY - JOUR
T1 - The ‘Mathematics Problem’ and preservice post primary mathematics teachers–analysing 17 years of diagnostic test data
AU - Fitzmaurice, Olivia
AU - Walsh, Richard
AU - Burke, Kevin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - In the mathematics education literature, subject matter knowledge is well recognized as the cornerstone of a mathematics teacher’s knowledge base. Though the ‘Mathematics Problem’, the declining standards of students’ mathematical abilities upon entering tertiary education, is well documented in many countries, its effect on preservice mathematics teachers has not yet been analyzed to date. Therefore, we analyze 17 years of data (1997–2013) from a mathematics diagnostic test taken by preservice post primary mathematics teachers (n = 365) during their first mathematics class in a teacher training institution. Our analysis shows that the mathematical knowledge of preservice teachers has declined in all of the assessed core areas of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and calculus, with the more recent years of 2007–2013 showing more rapid decline than the years before. In fact, the average-performing preservice teacher in 1997 achieved a higher score than almost all preservice teachers in more recent years.
AB - In the mathematics education literature, subject matter knowledge is well recognized as the cornerstone of a mathematics teacher’s knowledge base. Though the ‘Mathematics Problem’, the declining standards of students’ mathematical abilities upon entering tertiary education, is well documented in many countries, its effect on preservice mathematics teachers has not yet been analyzed to date. Therefore, we analyze 17 years of data (1997–2013) from a mathematics diagnostic test taken by preservice post primary mathematics teachers (n = 365) during their first mathematics class in a teacher training institution. Our analysis shows that the mathematical knowledge of preservice teachers has declined in all of the assessed core areas of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and calculus, with the more recent years of 2007–2013 showing more rapid decline than the years before. In fact, the average-performing preservice teacher in 1997 achieved a higher score than almost all preservice teachers in more recent years.
KW - diagnostic testing
KW - mathematics problem
KW - Preservice mathematics teachers
KW - teacher knowledge
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075031291&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0020739X.2019.1682700
DO - 10.1080/0020739X.2019.1682700
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075031291
SN - 0020-739X
VL - 52
SP - 259
EP - 281
JO - International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
JF - International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
IS - 2
ER -