An Analysis on the Elementary Preservice Mathematics Teachers′ Representation about Fraction

초등수학 예비교사들의 분수에 대한 표상의 분석

Representation has been main topic in teaching and learning mathematics for a long time. Moreover, teachers' deficiency of representation about fraction results in teaching algorithms without conceptual understanding. So, this paper was conducted to investigate and analysize the elementary preservice mathematics teachers' representation about fraction. 38 elementary preservice mathematics teachers participated in this study. This study results showed that, the only model of a fraction that was familiar to the preservice teachers was the part of whole one. And research showed that, they solved the problems about fraction well using algorithms but seldom express the sentence which illustrates the meaning of the operation by a fraction. Specially, the division aspect of a fraction was not familiar nor readily accepted. It menas that preservice teachers are used to using algorithms without a conceptual understanding of the meaning of the operation by a fraction. This results give us some implications. Most of all, teaching programs in preservice mathematics teachers education have to devise to form a network among the concepts in relation to fraction. And we must emphasize how to teach and what to teach in preservice mathematics teachers education course. Finally, we have to invent the various materials which can be used to educate both preservice teachers and elementary school students. If we want to improve the mathematical ability of students, we will concentrate preservice teachers education.