Understanding Malaysian Pre-Service Teachers Mathematical Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

This article seeks to present findings from the analysis of the TEDS-M reports on the mathematical content knowledge (MCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of the pre-service teachers in Malaysia. The main objective of this study was to investigate the level of teaching knowledge attained by the Malaysian pre-service primary and secondary teachers. Some 576 primary level pre-service teachers and 389 secondary level pre-service teachers participated in the TEDS-M study. The significance of this study is pertinent as the level of teachers' knowledge influences students' achievement in schools. Results of analysis show that Malaysian pre-service teachers at the primary and secondary performed below the international average for both mathematics content knowledge (MCK) and mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK). The article suggested several steps on how teacher educators could improve the PCK and MCK of pre-service teachers in Malaysia.