An Investigation And Analysis Of The Status Quo Of Senior Middle School Mathematics Teacher

The21st century is an information age. The development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has dramatically changed the way that we think, the approaches that we get knowledge, and the tendencies that we behave. Besides, the advance of technology has also increasely improved the informatization level of modern education. In order to adjust to such change, teachers should consider the knowledge of technology as well as that of integration of technology and teaching as parts of the structure of their professional knowledge, and continuously improve their abilities to teach with and guide students’ learning with technology. In2005, American scholars Matthew Koehler and Punya Mishra had put forward the concept-Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (TPACK) for carefully studying teachers’ tech-related knowledge, and soon the concept had became a hot topic within the field of teacher education and educational technology.Koehler and Mishra not only provided the concept of TPACK, but also explained the theoretical framework which includes three basic knowledge-Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogy Knowledge (PK) and Technology Knowledge (TK)-as well as four compound knowledges (PCK, TCK, TPK, TPACK) made up of the basic knowledges above. Therefore, it is the seven kinds of knowledge that constitute the framework of TPACK.This research is focused on TPACK. Through the summarizing and analyzing the related literatures, based on the framework, a Questionnaire on TPACK> is worked out, by which the investigation on current situation of characteristics and structure of Chinese high school mathematics teachers’ TPACK has implemented. Besides, the factors influencing high school teachers’ use of technology to teach has also been explored. By carefully analyzing and reflecting the problems, some suggestions which can help teachers improve their TPACK level are put forward. The main conclusions of the research are as follows:Overall speaking, the levels that teachers possess in the individual knowledge component are higher than those of composite knowledge; the levels of tech-related knowledge are higher than those of non-tech-related knowledge; the lowest level belongs to the TPACK component.The difference in sex within these teachers doesn’t cause difference in TPACK level. However, teachers with differences in teacher seniority, educational attainment or professional titles do have significant differences in their TPACK level.The most commonly used technologies or softwares by high school mathematics teachers are Office Power Point, The Geometer’s Sketchpad and Calculators. The main functions of these tools are substitution of blackboard-writing for saving time, or demonstration of dynamic graph.The main factors that influence teachers’ use of technology or softwares in teaching include that whether teachers master such technology or that their familiarity of manipulating such technology, and that the complexity of concrete content to be taught.Finally, according to the conclusions and analysis above, some suggestions for teachers themselves as well as educational administrators are put forward. For teachers themselves, suggestions include enhancing professional knowledge and practice for a better knowledge structure and teaching skills. For teachers trainers and administers, suggestions include reforming the pattern of training mathematics teachers; promoting the balanced development of urban and rural education, and developing network teaching resources platform; strengthen the school management and promoting teachers development.