A Case Study On Mathematics Classroom Instruction Of Elementary School Based On MPCK

Teacher professional development is being paid wide attention, teachers’ knowledge is an important part of teacher professional development. In the 1980s, Shulman made a systematic research on teachers’knowledge and put forward the concept of pedagogical content knowledge(PCK). It is an important knowledge base for instruction and it has become a hot topic in the field of educational research. Mathematical Pedagogical Content Knowledge(MPCK) is absolutely unique to mathematics teachers and it is the core knowledge foundation for classroom teaching. MPCK effectively transform the academic form into the pedagogical form of mathematical knowledge and impact greatly on teacher’s behavior and quality of teaching. Literature research, case study, classroom observation approach and interview method were used in this study. This study establishes teachers’MPCK of primary school based on the theory of MPCK, analyzes the teacher’s MPCK reflected in the cases of mathematics classroom instruction, identifies the problems, finds the reasons and explores the influence of teacher’s MPCK on instruction. This study has seven sections.The first section, foreword. In this part, this study generalizes and analyzes relevant study on MPCK and mathematics classroom instruction in primary school. It identifies the research problems and constructs the research framework on the basis of the existing research.The second section, the meaning, structure and level of MPCK. This paper defines the implication, structure and level of MPCK and establishes the theoretical basis. MPCK means that teachers understand the mathematics subject content knowledge from the teaching perspective, represent and interpret the subject matter newly, aims to helping the students understand the mathematics knowledge. MPCK includes three categories:mathematics subject content knowledge, mathematics learning knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. MPCK has three levels:knowing, understanding and mastering.The third section, mathematics teachers’ MPCK of primary school. According to different types of mathematical knowledge for teaching, this paper constructs mathematics teachers’ MPCK of primary school from a theoretical perspective, elaborates the required MPCK of mathematical concepts, mathematical rules and problem solving classroom instruction, and this is the significant base for classroom analysis.The fourth, fifth and sixth section, the in-depth analysis of mathematical concepts, mathematical rules and problem solving classroom instruction. Through the case study, classroom observation approach and interview method, this study analyzes the cases of mathematical concepts, mathematical rules and problem solving classroom instruction respectively, observes the teacher’s MPCK reflected in the classroom from a practical viewpoint, discovers the problems, investigates the reasons, measures the level of the teacher’s MPCK and explores the influence of teacher’s MPCK on instruction.The seventh section, the results and suggestions. The results indicated that (a) different types of mathematical knowledge teaching put forward different requirements to teachers’MPCK, (b) teacher’s MPCK has an important impact on teacher’s teaching and students learning, (c) the element of MPCK play an important role in classroom as an organic whole. Grounded on the findings, making the following recommendations for teaching:firstly, teachers should be clear about the necessary MPCK of different teaching content. Secondly, teachers should strive to improve their level of MPCK. Thirdly, teachers should use the elements of MPCK comprehensively.Limitations of this study lies in using lots of qualitative research methods and less of quantitative approaches. This paper is a research on teachers’ MPCK in mathematics classroom of elementary school, and not paying attention to teachers’ MPCK in middle and senior high school.