Investigating the Strategies Used by Pre-Service Teachers in Taiwan When Responding to Number Sense Questions

摘要

This study examined the strategies used by pre-service teachers when responding to number sense related questions. 15 pre-service teachers from one University in Southern Taiwan were interviewed. Results indicated that about one-third of these pre-service teachers were able to use number sense strategies (such as recognizing the number size, using benchmarks, etc.) and the other two-thirds relied heavily on written algorithms to solve problems. This is consistent with the findings of the earlier studies (Reys & Yang, 1998; Yang & Reys, 2002; Yang, 2003), which state that fifth, sixth and eighth graders in Taiwan rely heavily on the written method when responding to number sense related questions. This implies that the performance of pre-service elementary teachers on number sense is low. If we want to improve elementary students' knowledge and use of number sense, then we should try to improve the ability of their future teachers 'number sense. This supports the statement of Ma (1999) which stated that "to empower students with mathematical thinking, teachers should first be empowered (p. 105)."