Effects of integrating problem solving, interactive multimedia, and constructivism in teacher education

Abstract

Research on mathematics teacher education indicates that offering an appropriate constructivist-based teaching model of mathematics instruction to preservice elementary teachers enhances their teaching abilities and confidence in future teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice elementary teachers' decisions about teaching strategies and their attitudes toward mathematics and computer-related technologies in a constructivist-centered methods course which included the use of problem solving multimedia. The treatment consisted of six hours of multimedia-enhanced instruction over two weeks. This study focused on three mathematics education topics taught to each group of students: problem-solving, technology, and ratios/proportions. The results indicated that constructivist-based instruction using multimedia helped the participants develop more positive attitudes toward computer-related technologies and influenced their decisions to plan more constructivist-based teaching strategies than those participants in the comparison groups.