Modeling Action Research for Pre-Service Teachers as Part of a Primary Maths Method Class
- 1 School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
- 2 School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
- 3 School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
Abstract
How does an early academic, who has specialized training in educational statistics and measurement, approach the teaching of a primary mathematics methods course for first and second year pre-service teachers? The research study presented here explores the design and delivery of a newly developed, singlesemester (36 hours over 9 weeks), course for a combined first and second year pre-service teachers in primary mathematics in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) program. Over the nine week period, the course lecturer and tutorial instructors used action research methodologies to collect and analyze data from the course. Through these data collection and analysis, the authors identified students’ common concerns and apprehensions and utilized them as a basis for efforts to enact change for the betterment of the students involved in the class. The collection and analysis of the data as well as the specific actions taken by the authors to these identified concerns and apprehensions are the focus of this paper.
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