3: Developing Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching in a Content Course: A “Design Experiment” Involving Mathematics Educators and Mathematicians

Given the increasing emphasis placed on teachers’ content knowledge in mathematics (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001; RAND, 2003), content courses are becoming an integral part of the mathematics preservice teacher education equation. With few exceptions (e.g., Stylianides & Stylianides, 2008), there is little evidence, however, that preservice teachers learn mathematics in ways needed for teaching from content courses. Moreover, the field of mathematics education lacks models for the design and implementation of such courses. This has resulted in many content courses being designed without sufficient attention to both the pedagogical and mathematical concerns entailed in developing preservice teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. Thus, this paper aims to make visible the process employed by a group of mathematics educators and mathematicians as they collaboratively designed and implemented such a content course. We argue that our experience has broader implications for the design of mathematics content courses for preservice elementary teachers.