The Research On The Subject Matter Knowledge Of The Maths Teachers In Primary Schools

The Subject Matter Knowledge is an important part of teacher’s knowledge and the ma thematic Subject Matter Knowledge is the specific knowledge which owns by maths teachers. It includes the master of the mathematic concepts, the understanding of maths and the relationships among varied mathematic knowledge. The subjects of this research are the maths teachers in the primary schools of Chongqing. The purpose is to investigate whether the Subject Matter Knowledge of maths teachers can meet the needs in teaching practice, the present situations of the maths teachers and the factors which may influence their Subject Matter Knowledge.The research is based on the Subject Matter Knowledge categories made by American scholar. Ball, and it takes the book the basic concept and calculation principles---the core questions in maths teaching as the main reference book.114 maths teachers at the primary schools of Chongqing are investigated about their Subject Matter Knowledge with the tool the test on the mathematic knowledge of the maths teachers at primary:school.The research shows that; 1) the Mathematic Subject Matter Knowledge of the maths teachers at primary schools are not satisfying, because most of them cannot pass the test; 2) they master graphs and geometry relatively best, then comes statistics and probabilities, and then number and algebra; 3) the maths teachers perform best in the dimension of truth value, then in legitimacy, and perform worst in connectedness.The research results are as the following:1.) compared with other factors, years in service is the most important, the longer the time is, the better their Subject Matter Knowledges are; 2) to those who are new in service, the higher their academic degrees, the better their Subject Matter Knowledges are. But this factor seems have minor influence on those who have been in this career for many years; 3) the learning experience of mathematic at college may have impact on their Subject Matter Knowledges, especially to those who are in service for 1-10 years. Those who have learnt maths at college have better Subject Matter Knowledges than those who have not, but there is no big difference between those who have been teachers for over 10 years; 4) training doesn’t play significant role in abtaining the Subject Matter Knowledge in maths.Based on the interviews with the teachers and educational leaders, the main methods for improving the Subject Matter Knowledges of the maths teachers are regarded as the following:1) to adjust the maths curriculums at college and to set the courses which may enhance the deep understanding of the mathematic knowledge at primary school; 2) to seek the problems in teaching from the aspect of teachers and try to find out the ways to improve teaching qualities from maths itself; 3) to develop effective tests for evaluating the Subject Matter Knowledges of teachers, which may enable them to realize the shortcomings of themselves and the links between the Subject Matter Knowledge and teaching qualities; 4) to carry out the help between different schools and regions to improve teachers’Subject Matter Knowledge at the relatively weak schools; 5) to set up the links between primary school teachers and researchers at universities so as to improve teachers’Subject Matter Knowledge at primary schools.