Pre-service Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge Regarding Student Mistakes on the Subject of Geometric Shapes

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine preservice teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge regarding
geometric shapes in terms of knowledge of understanding students and knowledge of instructional presentations,
which are two subcomponents of pedagogical content knowledge. In this context, the data from the test
composed of seven open-ended questions solved incorrectly by secondary school students on the subject of
geometric shapes was used as the data collection tool. The case study method was carried out in this study. The
participants were 60 pre-service teachers. The descriptive analysis technique was used in analyzing the data. The
results of the study set forth that the pre-service teachers did not experience much difficulty in determining
student mistakes in the questions that contained figures and mathematical statements, whereas they experienced
more difficulty in determining student mistakes in the questions that contained only verbal statements.
Furthermore, it was observed in the study that the preservice teachers’ solution suggestions for eliminating these
mistakes were not at an adequate level.