New Perspectives in Science Education

The link between the learning of a concept and its teaching is a source of great concern to the teachers of our Mathematics Education Department, especially in the case of fraction word problems. The TPACK framework provides the appropriate domains and tools needed for the study of this topic. We proposed to 47 couples of prospective primary school teachers a multiplying fraction word problem in a distribution context. The problem was supposed to be solved in various ways: using graphic strategies (with a GeoGebra applet) and arithmetically. Moreover, the students were asked about the indications that they would give to their future pupils in order to solve similar problems. All the tasks were assigned to one of the TPACK sub domains and analyzed according to it. The main findings are related to the predominance of the arithmetic-based methods over the computer-based ones. Moreover, a high percentage of the couples do not check the necessary coincidence of the results when solving the same problem through various ways. When comparing solving results and indications for pupils we found that most of the couples with a mathematically correct answer gave poor indications to their future pupils.

Keywords: TPACK, fractions teaching difficulties, fractions learning difficulties;

References:
[1] Clarke, D. M., Roche, A., & Mitchell, A. (2008). Ten Practical Tips for Making Fractions Come Alive and Make Sense. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 13(7), 372-380.
[2] Koehler, M. J.; Mishra, P. (2009) What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, Charlottesville, v. 9, n. 1, 60-70.