Prospective Zimbabwean "A" Level mathematics teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function

dc.contributor.advisorJulie, Cyril
dc.contributor.authorNyikahadzoyi, Maroni Runesu
dc.date.accessioned2022-03-08T07:28:53Z
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-17T11:13:35Z
dc.date.available2022-03-08T07:28:53Z
dc.date.available2024-04-17T11:13:35Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.descriptionPhilosophiae Doctor - PhDen_US
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of the study was to investigate prospective 'A' level mathematics teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function. The study was a case study of six prospective Zimbabwean teachers who were majoring in mathematics with the intention of completing a programme leading to certification as secondary mathematics teachers. At the time of the study the six prospective teachers were in their final year of study. Prospective teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function was assessed through task-based interviews and reflective interviews. These interviews, which were done over a period of three months, were structured to capture the prospective teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for teaching the concept of a function. The interviews were also meant to capture the prospective teachers' underlining pedagogical reasons for their choices of the examples, representations and teaching approaches when planning to teach the concept. As part of the study a theoretical framework for understanding prospective teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function was developed. The framework, which was developed, was used as an analytical tool in analyzing prospective teachers knowledge of the concept of a function. The results of the study indicated that the prospective teachers had a process conception of a function although some of them had given a set-theoretic definition of a function in which a function is perceived as a mathematical object. They also confined the notion of a function to sets of real numbers. Functions defined on other mathematical objects (for example, the differential operator and the determinant function) were not considered as functions by five of the six prospective teachers.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10566/11202
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of the Western Capeen_US
dc.rights.holderUniversity of the Western Capeen_US
dc.subjectMinistry of Educationen_US
dc.subjectMathematics National Panelen_US
dc.subjectZimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC)en_US
dc.subjectCurriculum Development Uniten_US
dc.subjectAmerican Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC)en_US
dc.subjectNational Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)en_US
dc.subjectProfessional Teaching Standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematicsen_US
dc.titleProspective Zimbabwean "A" Level mathematics teachers' knowledge of the concept of a functionen_US

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