Examining the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Mathematics Teacher Candidates on Cone Subject Regarding Students’ Mistakes

Purpose: This research aims to examine the pedagogical content knowledge of fourth-grade mathematics teacher candidates regarding the concept of the cone, based on knowledge of student understanding and knowledge of instructional strategies. Method: The study sample consists of 51 fourth-grade mathematics teacher candidates. The Pedagogical Content Knowledge Test and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection tools. The test was administered to 51 mathematics teacher candidates, and interviews were conducted with six of them. Findings: The study revealed that the mathematics teacher candidates had deficiencies in both knowledge of student understanding and knowledge of instructional strategies. In terms of knowledge of student understanding, it was observed that some mathematics teacher candidates did not include cone types other than the right circular cone in the cone group, did not consider the hierarchical relationship between cones and pyramids, and had incomplete knowledge regarding the open form and area-volume formulas of a cone. Due to these deficiencies, some mathematics teacher candidates were unable to correctly identify students' mistakes regarding the open and closed states of a cone. From the perspective of the knowledge of instructional strategies, some mathematics teacher candidates either omitted the teaching process because they believed it was not a mistake or designed a standard teaching process. On the other hand, some mathematics teacher candidates provided explanations about the teaching process but did not provide full details, whereas a small number offered sufficient explanations.