Teachers Knowledge of Fractions in the Perspective of Didactic-Mathematical Knowledge Theory
Komang Sujendra Diputra (ab*), Didi Suryadi (a), Tatang Herman (a), Al Jupri (a)

a) Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
b) Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, Bali, Indonesia

Abstract

Fraction is one of the most complex concepts on mathematics and it is difficult to understand by the students in elementary school and many of them have misconceptions on it. There were indications that the misconceptions experienced by students tend to be related to the teachers own knowledge, the way the teacher presented fractions and how the teacher taught them, including the interventions given. The purpose of this research was to investigate in depth the knowledge of elementary school teachers which was regarded to the concept of fractions, both content knowledge and didactic. This research was a qualitative research with a case study design that was involved to the elementary school teachers as research participants. The data were collected through a fraction test which was developed based on the Theory of Didactic-Mathematical Knowledge and also in-depth interviews to understand in more detail the knowledge and explanations of the participants. Then, the data were analyzed by using quantitative and qualitative analysis (coding). The results of the research found that in the mathematical aspect, teachers had limited knowledge and even had wrong understanding beliefs, especially on the meaning of fractions as part of whole. In the didactic aspect, there was a tendency for teachers to teach the topics and parts of the thinking process that exacted in the textbooks. In other words, the learning was carried out as an imitation of what was in the textbook.

Keywords: Fraction- Teachers Knowledge- Didactic Mathematical Knowledge

Topic: Mathematics Education