The problem of 0.999…: Teachers’ school-related content knowledge and their reactions to misconceptions

Verena Spratte (1) , Laura Euhus (1) , Judith Kalinowski (1)

1 Georg-August-University = Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

The identity 0.999…=1 connects to a variety of mathematical concepts and therefore allows for an investigation of teachers’ school-related content knowledge (SRCK). This is a facet of their content knowledge (CK) that emphasizes links between school mathematics and the mathematics acquired in tertiary education. Some numerously reported misconceptions and potentially conflicting ideas on 0.999... were presented to secondary school teachers in interviews. Especially in the case of conflicting ideas the relation between SRCK and teachers’ reactions as part of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was examined. The results showed that SRCK, as well as CK in general, is a prerequisite to successfully applying PCK. Further they lead to a discussion of the SRCK model’s use in qualitative research.

Mots clés: Qualitative research; Mathematics teachers; Secondary school mathematics; SRCK; Misconceptions

Domaines: Mathématiques [math]; Education

Verena Spratte, Laura Euhus, Judith Kalinowski. The problem of 0.999…: Teachers’ school-related content knowledge and their reactions to misconceptions. Eleventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Utrecht University, Feb 2019, Utrecht, Netherlands. ⟨hal-02430497⟩