The pedagogical practices of elementary mathematics methods instructors in teacher education programs in California

This study investigated the instructional practices of mathematics methods instructors in multiple subject teacher education programs in California. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which methods instructors practiced constructivist pedagogy that focused on the conceptual understanding of K--6 mathematics, and the degree to which they modeled the constructivist pedagogy that preservice teachers were expected to teach. Two research questions investigated the subject matter knowledge of instructors at two levels, substantive and syntactic knowledge and four questions investigated the pedagogical content knowledge of instructors at four levels: knowledge of students, learning needs, knowledge of context, knowledge of pedagogy, and knowledge of curriculum. A survey and content analysis of course syllabi were the methods for data collection. The sampling frame consisted of 86 Schools of Education in California. Directors of Schools of Education were requested to provide names of elementary mathematics methods instructors. The identified instructors received surveys; 57 surveys (47 percent) were returned. A secondary source provided names of mathematics teacher educators. This database of instructors was dated. Only 13 surveys (16 percent) were returned. A total of 70 surveys and 42 course syllabi (60 percent) were returned. The surveys and syllabi were analyzed to determine response frequencies, means, and standard deviations. Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated between the survey and syllabi ratings to determine relationships between similar variables.; The reported practices of the methods instructors indicate an emphasis on substantive and syntactic knowledge in their course activities. The reported practices for pedagogical content knowledge indicate only partial modeling of the variables. Instructors model a combination of didactic and constructivist pedagogy with less emphasis on in-depth investigations of specific mathematics strands, reasoning skills during inquiry, how children learn mathematics, and technology. Instructors' pedagogical practices need to align with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' standards, and the amount of time allotted for mathematics pedagogy needs to be increased to sufficiently model the constructivist, problem-based approach to mathematics instruction.