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Clustering Analysis on Teachers’ Perceptions of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Received: 18 July 2016     Published: 19 July 2016
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to cluster the perceptions of mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) for teachers. The subject is 259 primary school teachers in Taiwan. This study constructs dimensions of MPCK according to the review and conclusions of literature. The MPCK assessment includes six dimensions, which are mathematics content knowledge (MCK), students’ cognition knowledge (SCK), mathematics instruction knowledge (MIK), mathematics instruction practice (MIP), mathematics assessment knowledge (MAK) and teacher professional responsibility (TPR). The MPCK questionnaire is 4-points Likert scale and its reliability and validity are acceptable. Fuzzy clustering is adopted to cluster the subject based on these six dimensions. Results show that all teachers could be properly classified into six clusters. Each cluster has its own features of mathematics pedagogical content knowledge. There are also significantly differences in the dimensional scores among clusters. Besides, teachers who have more years of in-service tend to have higher dimensional scores on MPCK. These results could provide references for cultivating pre-service teachers and professional promotion for in-service teachers. Based on the findings of this study, some suggestions and recommendations are discussed for future research.

Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11
Page(s) 6-11
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Fuzzy Clustering, Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Content Knowledge

References
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[5] Carpenter, T. P., Fennema, E., Peterson, P. L., CareySource, D. A. (1988). Teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of students' problem solving in elementary arithmetic. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 19, 385-401.
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[9] Greeno, J. (2003). Situative research relevant to standards for school mathematics. In J. Kilpatrick, W. G. Martin, & D. Schifter (Eds.), A Research Companion to Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (pp. 304-332). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
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  • APA Style

    Yuan-Horng Lin, Yuan-Shun Lee. (2016). Clustering Analysis on Teachers’ Perceptions of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 5(2), 6-11. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11

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    ACS Style

    Yuan-Horng Lin; Yuan-Shun Lee. Clustering Analysis on Teachers’ Perceptions of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2016, 5(2), 6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11

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    AMA Style

    Yuan-Horng Lin, Yuan-Shun Lee. Clustering Analysis on Teachers’ Perceptions of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Am J Appl Psychol. 2016;5(2):6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11,
      author = {Yuan-Horng Lin and Yuan-Shun Lee},
      title = {Clustering Analysis on Teachers’ Perceptions of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {6-11},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.20160502.11},
      abstract = {The purpose of this study is to cluster the perceptions of mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) for teachers. The subject is 259 primary school teachers in Taiwan. This study constructs dimensions of MPCK according to the review and conclusions of literature. The MPCK assessment includes six dimensions, which are mathematics content knowledge (MCK), students’ cognition knowledge (SCK), mathematics instruction knowledge (MIK), mathematics instruction practice (MIP), mathematics assessment knowledge (MAK) and teacher professional responsibility (TPR). The MPCK questionnaire is 4-points Likert scale and its reliability and validity are acceptable. Fuzzy clustering is adopted to cluster the subject based on these six dimensions. Results show that all teachers could be properly classified into six clusters. Each cluster has its own features of mathematics pedagogical content knowledge. There are also significantly differences in the dimensional scores among clusters. Besides, teachers who have more years of in-service tend to have higher dimensional scores on MPCK. These results could provide references for cultivating pre-service teachers and professional promotion for in-service teachers. Based on the findings of this study, some suggestions and recommendations are discussed for future research.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Clustering Analysis on Teachers’ Perceptions of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge
    AU  - Yuan-Horng Lin
    AU  - Yuan-Shun Lee
    Y1  - 2016/07/19
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11
    T2  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JF  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JO  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
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    EP  - 11
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5672
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20160502.11
    AB  - The purpose of this study is to cluster the perceptions of mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) for teachers. The subject is 259 primary school teachers in Taiwan. This study constructs dimensions of MPCK according to the review and conclusions of literature. The MPCK assessment includes six dimensions, which are mathematics content knowledge (MCK), students’ cognition knowledge (SCK), mathematics instruction knowledge (MIK), mathematics instruction practice (MIP), mathematics assessment knowledge (MAK) and teacher professional responsibility (TPR). The MPCK questionnaire is 4-points Likert scale and its reliability and validity are acceptable. Fuzzy clustering is adopted to cluster the subject based on these six dimensions. Results show that all teachers could be properly classified into six clusters. Each cluster has its own features of mathematics pedagogical content knowledge. There are also significantly differences in the dimensional scores among clusters. Besides, teachers who have more years of in-service tend to have higher dimensional scores on MPCK. These results could provide references for cultivating pre-service teachers and professional promotion for in-service teachers. Based on the findings of this study, some suggestions and recommendations are discussed for future research.
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Author Information
  • Department of Mathematics Education, National Taichung University of Education, Taichung City, Taiwan

  • Department of Mathematics, University of Taipei, Taipei City, Taiwan

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