Propectives Teachers Algebraic Reasoning

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the didactic-mathematical knowledge of 139 prospective secondary school teachers at the end of a training action, which was aimed at reinforcing their algebraic and statistical reasoning. To achieve this goal, the participants were asked to identify the mathematical objects and the level of algebraic reasoning involved in the resolution of two tasks involving statistical tables, which were taken from secondary school textbooks. Content analysis of participants' written responses to these tasks showed that a significant percentage of participants had difficulties in identifying the mathematical objects requested, especially for statistical objects. Although better results were obtained in the assignment of the level of algebraic reasoning to the task resolutions, the proportion of participants who did not assign it correctly was high. We conclude that there is a need to reinforce the ability to identify the different levels of algebraic reasoning in prospective teachers.