Teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions

Reidar Mosvold; Janne Fauskanger

doi:10.29333/iejme/273

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Reidar Mosvold, Janne Fauskanger

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Abstract

Previous research indicates the importance of teachers’ knowledge of mathematical definitions—as well as their beliefs. Much remains unknown, however, about the specific knowledge required doing the mathematical task of teaching involving definitions and the related teacher beliefs. In this article, we analyze focus-group interviews that were conducted in a Norwegian context to examine the adaptability of the U.S. developed measures of mathematical knowledge for teaching. Qualitative content analysis was applied in order to learn more about the teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions. The results indicate that teachers believe knowledge of mathematical definitions is an important aspect of mathematical knowledge for teaching, but they do not regard it as important to actually know the mathematical definitions themselves.

Keywords

mathematical knowledge for teaching
teacher beliefs
mathematical definitions

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INT ELECT J MATH ED, Volume 8, Issue 2-3, October 2013, 43-61

https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/273

Publication date: 10 Nov 2013

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APA

Mosvold, R., & Fauskanger, J. (2013). Teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 8(2-3), 43-61. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/273

Vancouver

Mosvold R, Fauskanger J. Teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2013;8(2-3):43-61. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/273

AMA

Mosvold R, Fauskanger J. Teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2013;8(2-3), 43-61. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/273

Chicago

Mosvold, Reidar, and Janne Fauskanger. "Teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2013 8 no. 2-3 (2013): 43-61. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/273

Harvard

Mosvold, R., and Fauskanger, J. (2013). Teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 8(2-3), pp. 43-61. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/273

MLA

Mosvold, Reidar et al. "Teachers’ beliefs about mathematical knowledge for teaching definitions". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, vol. 8, no. 2-3, 2013, pp. 43-61. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/273