Students' obstacles and pre-service and in-service lebanese public school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) related to the absolute value concept

النوع : Thèse

The purpose of this study was to explore students’ knowledge and obstacles related to the absolute value concept as well as teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of the same concept. Participants included grade 11 students and their teachers from 19 public secondary schools in the Nabatieh and the South region of Lebanon. The total sample consisted of 466 students and 25 teachers (19 in-service and 6 pre-service). Students were given a test consisting of 20 items which reflected their understanding of the absolute value. Teachers were given the same test and were also asked to predict and explain student obstacles and propose strategies to deal with those obstacles. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze students’ and teachers’ responses. In addition, student obstacles and difficulties were compared by achievement level while teacher responses were compared by teacher-service type. Results showed that students have poor knowledge and hold incomplete concept images of the absolute value concept. Moreover, students had a high level of change of representation difficulties as well as didactical and epistemological obstacles. Achievement level differences were also evident in which higher achievers had a lower occurrence of obstacles/difficulties. As for the teachers, findings showed that teachers had good content knowledge of the absolute value. In addition, while teachers were able to predict a majority of students’ obstacles, they mostly provided incomplete explanations of those obstacles and were generally unable to propose effective strategies to deal with them. Significant differences between in-service and pre-service teachers were also evident. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are discussed.