Research in Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회지시리즈D:수학교육연구)

Korean Society of Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회)
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Comparing U. S. and Taiwanese Pre-service Teachers' Solving Triangular Arithmagons

  • LIN, Cheng-Yao (Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Southern Illinois University) ;
  • KUO, Yu-Chun (Department of STEAM, Rowan University)
  • Received : 2014.09.22
  • Accepted : 2015.04.16
  • Published : 2015.06.30
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Abstract

The study investigated pre-service teachers' knowledge and computational skills by using Triangular Arithmagon. Participants included 90 pre-service teachers from two schools in the United States and Taiwan. The Triangular Arithmagons Test (TAT) was used to measure pre-service teachers' performance in whole number, fractions, and decimals operations (i.e., addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), each of which included level-1 (basic) and level-2 (advanced) tests. MANOVA analysis was performed to compare the performance between teachers from the United States and Taiwan. Results indicated that overall, pre-service teachers in Taiwan outperformed those in the United States, especially on the advanced-level tests. Pre-service teachers in the United States were found to have poor ability of solving complex operation problems. Different curriculum plans and teaching methods may lead to the performance gap between the two countries.

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References

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