Preservice Mathematics Teachers’
Experiences about Function and
Equation Concepts
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1
Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi, Sivas, TURKEY
2
Erciyes Üniversitesi, Kayseri, TURKEY
Publication date: 2011-06-21
EURASIA J. Math., Sci Tech. Ed 2011;7(2):89-102
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to determine the experience of mathematics preservice
teachers related to function and equation concepts and the relations between them.
Determining preservice mathematics teachers’ understanding of function and equation
concepts has great importance since it directly affects their future teaching careers. Data
were collected by a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews and analyzed using
existential- phenomenology. The results show that the experiences of preservice math
teachers related to these concepts can be summarized under six different titles, namely,
confusion of the definition of function with one-to-one and onto properties, relating it
with daily life (exampling), failure to take the functioning conditions into account, the
relation between the values which make the function zero and roots of the equation,
multiple representations of functions and taking the defining set of functions and
equations into account.