TITLE:
Between Natural Language and Mathematical Symbols (, =): The Comprehension of Pre-Service and Preschool Teachers- Perspective of Numbers
AUTHORS:
Dina Hassidov, Bat-Sheva Ilany
KEYWORDS:
Preschool Teachers, Pre-Service teachers, Mathematics Education, Early Childhood, Mathematical Symbol
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.8 No.12,
September
27,
2017
ABSTRACT: This article presents a quantitative and qualitative study comparing how pre-service and preschool teachers perceive the relational symbols ( and =). The study population comprised 71 pre-service teachers participating in a course dedicated to teaching and learning early childhood mathematics and 149 in-service preschool teachers. A large proportion of the participants did not answer the questions correctly or give suitable reasons for their answers.There was a significant difference between the two groups, with thepre-service teachers giving a significantly greater number of correct answers and explanations. The conclusions arising from this study are that preschool teachers do not correctly comprehend the true significance of >, and =, and therefore are unlikely to teach them correctly.