The impact of the school field experiences (practicum iii) on the perceptions of ecae pre-service elementary teachers about mathematics

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers who study at Emirates College for Advanced Education (ECAE), Abu Dhabi, UAE, have opportunities to actively participate in all aspects of school life through the Practicum program. This program begins during the first year with observations in schools (Practicum I), while the next three years (Practicum II, III, and IV), student teachers start to teach aspects of lessons, small group lessons and then teach full lessons, until finally taking responsibility for teaching several classes over a 10 week period during their final year of internship in the schools (Students’ Handbook of ECAE, 2013). The ECAE students study four years to be elementary teachers who will teach mathematics, science, and English in English Language. The main objective of the Practicum III experiences for the students is to establish a strong foundation in the teaching, learning and assessment cycle. Students will plan, implement, assess, evaluate and reflect on lessons implemented in mathematics, science, and English. They will implement a variety of instructional strategies, prepare appropriate assessment tasks and develop reflective thinking skills in the planning and delivery of lessons. All lessons should use technological tools and formats including the communications between the students themselves, schools mentors, and college mentors. The main goal of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the ECAE students who finished their field experiences (Practicum III) about Mathematics. The researcher used an interview which consisted of nine questions with all students in the sample. The students’ perceptions were varied from low to large impact of the Practicum practices on their views about mathematics and how can they teach the mathematical concepts to the elementary students. The results of the study highlighted the importance and the power of the field experiences (Practicum III) in schools to develop the students’ mathematical knowledge and skills which are needed for the effective teacher. The researcher summarized the themes and sub-themes concluded in the results.