This presentation will focus on an exploratory study of how elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) communicated their mathematical thinking while solving carefully selected, multi-digit, addition problems. The numbers were purposefully chosen for the problems to elicit both procedural and conceptual knowledge. This presentation seeks to demonstrate that although many PSTs used the standard algorithm, some simultaneously used unprompted conceptual strategies based on their own prior mathematical knowledge and experiences. This presentation will discuss the implications of this study for mathematics teacher educators as they leverage the nuanced ways that PSTs’ communicate their mathematical thinking while developing PSTs’ pedagogical content knowledge.

Session Type: Brief Research Report