The Impact of a Mathematics Methods Course on Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of Word Problem Types

• In Event: 66.059 - Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: 66.059-2 - Mathematics in Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

Addition and subtraction word problem solving is an important, yet challenging task for both elementary students to learn and for teachers to teach well. This study examined the changes of pre-service teachers’ understanding of addition and subtraction word problem types before and after an elementary mathematics methods course module on word problem types. The study revealed that while participants’ ability to identify word problem types grew significantly as measured by pre and post assessment as a result of the mathematics methods course intervention. They also displayed different abilities to identify problem types in multistep word problems and showed weakness in their abilities to combine their knowledge of problem types with representational models in video demonstration.

Authors

• Shuang Zhang, Texas Tech University

• Raymond Flores, Texas Tech University

• Jian Wang, Texas Tech University

• Xiaofang Zeng, Texas Tech University

• Jory Neff, Texas Tech University

• Minju Yi, Texas Tech University

• Yuanhua Wang, Texas Tech University