Preservice Teachers’ Levels of Understanding of Place Value and Numeration Systems

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine preservice teachers’ levels of understanding (error reproduction ) and
analyzing (dept of analysis ) the errors about place values and numeration systems and their using descriptive language
according to their genders. This study was designed as a descriptive survey and both qualitative and quantitative research
techniques were used. Accordingly, the study was carried out with 140 (female: 71, male: 69) pre-service classroom teachers
at the third grade in the academic year of 2010-2011. Four questions which were intended for basic skills about the concept
of place value and which included possible errors that the students at the primary school might make were used as the data
collection tool. The results of this research revealed that preservice teachers were more successful in understanding the errors
than they were in the dept of analysing and using descriptive language. Preservice teachers; however, could not give
satisfactory responses about analyzing the error and the language that they used in explaining the errors.