Relationship between mathematics beliefs, conceptual knowledge and mathematical experience among pre-service teachers

Mathematical beliefs, conceptual knowledge and mathematical experience play an important role in enhancing the quality and effectiveness of the teaching and learning of mathematics. As such, this study is conducted with the aim of profiling these three main constructs, namely mathematical beliefs, conceptual knowledge and mathematical experience among pre-service teachers. The study is also intended to produce a measurement model of these constructs and subsequently a structural model that incorporates all the hidden and observed variables. 317 pre-service teachers from six institutions of higher learning (public universities) were randomly selected to participate in this study. Mathematical beliefs, conceptual knowledge and mathematical experience are measured using mathematical beliefs questionnaire (MBQ), a test of conceptual knowledge (TCK) and mathematical experience questionnaire (MEQ) respectively, focusing on the topic of fractions. The findings indicate that the overall teachers' mathematical beliefs are high, mean score of the teachers' conceptual knowledge is good, while mathematical experience is moderate. Further analysis reveals that there exists a significant correlation between these three variables. Implications and suggestions are provided for better understanding of mathematical beliefs, conceptual knowledge and mathematical experience, particularly within the context of teaching and learning of mathematics. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Huseyin Uzunboylu