Between Natural Language and Mathematical Symbols (<, >, =): The Comprehension of Pre-Service and Preschool Teachers- Perspective of Numbers

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DOI: 10.4236/ce.2017.812130    973 Downloads   3,262 Views  Citations

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 the pre-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.

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Hassidov, D. and Ilany, B. (2017) Between Natural Language and Mathematical Symbols (<, >, =): The Comprehension of Pre-Service and Preschool Teachers- Perspective of Numbers. Creative Education, 8, 1903-1911. doi: 10.4236/ce.2017.812130.

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