Strategies Used by Preservice Middle and High School Mathematics Teachers to Solve Proportion Problems

• In Event: Roundtable Session 50
  In Roundtable Session: Preservice Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge and Understanding

Abstract

This study used hands-on and missing-value word problems to examine preservice middle and high school teachers’ solution strategies and their difficulties when solving single and multiple proportion problems. An explanatory case study with multiple cases was used to make comparisons within and across cases. The use of hands-on and multiple proportion problems appeared to incline the preservice teachers to use cognitively more demanding strategies such as ratio table and algebra strategies. Hence, they usually avoided using cross-multiplication and additive strategies in the given problems. Results of this study illuminate how preservice middle and high school teachers reason about proportional relationships when they cannot rely on computation methods like cross multiplication.

Author

• MUHAMMET ARICAN, Ahi Evran University