Rina Durandt (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa): EXPLORING PRIMARY MATHEMATICS STUDENT TEACHERS’ PRIOR KNOWLEDGE IN PREPARATION FOR A MODELLING UNIT

Abstract:

This presentation reports on strengths, weaknesses, errors and misconceptions in primary mathematics student teachers’ prior mathematical knowledge, in the topic fractions, before embarking on a mathematical modelling unit developed in the project Studies in Teaching Approaches for Mathematical Modelling at Primary Level (STAMM@prim). The project, which follows from CoSTAMM (Durandt, Blum & Lindl, 2022; Lindl, Durandt & Blum, 2025), has been launched early in 2025 at a public university in Johannesburg and aims to link essential elements of an effective teaching design with contextual factors in the development of primary mathematics student teachers’ modelling competence. One contextual factor is students’ level of prior knowledge.

To solve a new mathematical problem prior conceptual knowledge should support the production of new procedures and the application of old procedures in new situations. Enhancing topic-specific prior knowledge of students impacts their outcomes in mathematics (Alreshidi, 2023). This result is particularly promising for situations where topic-specific teaching interventions are planned, like in STAMM@prim.

Data were collected at the beginning of April from approximately 80 participants through a diagnostic test – self-developed based on guidelines from Larson and Silbey (2015) and checked by a subject specialist. The test consists of 16 items grouped in four sections (Concept and formulas, Operations, Applications and modelling, Teaching fractions). Acceptable internal consistencies are reported for all sections and the overall test. Results reveal students are rather weak in fractions. A further qualitative analysis of their mathematical work provided more insights related to errors and misconceptions, particularly in the Application and modelling section. This information will be used as a covariate for the evaluation of the modelling intervention that followed later in 2025.

References

Alreshidi, N. A. K. (2023). Enhancing topic-specific prior knowledge of students impacts their outcomes in mathematics. Frontiers in Education, 8, 1050468.

https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1050468

Durandt, R., Blum, W., & Lindl, A. (2022). Fostering mathematical modelling competency of first year South African engineering students: What influence does the teaching design have? Educational Studies in Mathematics, 109, 361–381. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-021-10068-7

Larson, K. D., & Silbey, R. (2015) Mathematical practices, mathematics for teachers: activities, models, and real-life examples. Cengage: Boston

Lindl, A., Durandt, R., & Blum, W. (2025). Fostering mathematical modelling competency in different learning environments and educational contexts – an exploratory comparative analysis of four intervention studies. ZDM-Mathematics Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-025-01680-5