Inconsistencies in the process of posing problems for use in class by pre-service teachers

Overview & Synopsis

This study is framed in a research project, in which we explore the professional competence of posing problems for use in class. Specifically, we analyse the processes involved in formulating and solving problems in the output of 72 pre-service primary teachers who were asked to pose a two-stage problem based on the multiplication of fractions. By means of a methodology based on constant comparison, three types of inconsistencies were identified: inconsistencies between problem statement and numerical solution; inconsistencies between problem statement and diagrammatic solution; and inconsistencies between numerical and diagrammatic solutions. The results suggest that the pre-service teachers tend to solve the mental image of the problem they think they have formulated rather than the actual problem given in the problem statement.