Teaching teachers to participate in mathematical inquiry has the potential to both transform belief systems about mathematics and to transform teachers from consumers of mathematics to producers of mathematics. The focus of this paper is to describe the use of a problem, based on a non-traditional binary operation, to encourage and teach…

Probability knowledge and skills are needed in science and in making daily decisions that are sometimes made under uncertain conditions. Hence, there is the need to ensure that the pre-service teachers of our children are well prepared to teach probability. Pre-service teachers' conceptions of probability are identified, and ways of helping them…

This article is a reflection on an elementary pre-service teacher's intuitive idea offered as a mistaken solution strategy for counting matchsticks. It shows the difficulties in responding to flawed lines of intuitive reasoning arising in the classroom setting. A number of learning environments for teacher professional development are suggested…

In this article, the author suggests that to improve the teaching of mathematics in elementary schools, we must, when teaching content courses to prospective teachers, model the kind of teaching we want them to engage in. The author suggests ways to model this kind of teaching, which include the following: (1) challenge "all" students; (2)…

Teaching preparatory mathematics to first-time college students--who come from economically impoverished high schools that have not prepared their students to do college level mathematics--can be a daunting task for teaching assistants (TAs). The preparation of TAs to assist such students in the mastery of mathematical content is a complex…

The authors describe ways in which a history of mathematics course can help prospective teachers of mathematics develop knowledge they will need for teaching. The types of knowledge include content knowledge of mathematics, knowledge of mathematics for teaching, and pedagogical knowledge.

This article describes the goals of a capstone course for secondary preservice mathematics teachers and how those goals are achieved. Moreover, student reaction to the course will be examined.

As school curricula undergo changes in both content and pedagogy, pressure is placed on teacher preparation programs and undergraduate mathematics departments to model learning environments in mathematics appropriate for education students. Yet the reality of many post-secondary mathematics courses includes traditional style classes containing a…

In this paper, I will discuss two related activities that I have developed for use in a college geometry course directed at pre-service secondary and elementary school teachers. These activities ask students to develop geometry on pool tables and on cones. The two activities are closely related, and both ask students to relate computer models with…