Preservice teachers designing mathematical tasks on patterns: context, cognitive demand and skills

Abstract

[Objective] This study analyzes mathematical tasks related to patterns designed by prospective Chilean Early Childhood and Primary Education teachers during their university training process. [Methodology] An exploratory-descriptive qualitative study was designed and, using the content analysis technique, three categories of the mathematical tasks designed were analyzed, namely: context, cognitive demand and patterning skills. Forty prospective teachers participated in the study. Data collection was carried out in a regular class of their program of study, in which prospective teachers propose mathematical tasks to promote the teaching of patterns in accordance with the objectives set forth for the Chilean school curriculum for Early Childhood and Primary Education. [Results] The results obtained include a variety of mathematical tasks for teaching patterns, primarily for teaching in an informal context in Early Childhood Education, and in a formal context in Primary Education. On the other hand, these mathematical tasks have a low level of cognitive demand and are mainly focused on tasks that require extending a sequence. [Conclusions] It is concluded that the tasks designed by prospective teachers lack the depth necessary to fully address the study of patterns in the early years of the educational process. It is necessary to provide teachers with training experiences that assist them to design mathematical tasks that better promote the process of generalization through the exploration of repetitive and numerical patterns.