This extended abstract reports on the effect of a Content Gap Course on the Subject Content Knowledge (SCK) of a sample of 40 third year mathematics education students on selected topics in the senior secondary school mathematics curriculum of South Africa. The theoretical framework rests on theories on SCK of pre-service teachers. The research followed a positivist paradigm and preexperimental design. Two tests on the selected topics before and after the Content Gap Course provided the data for the study. It was found that the prospective teachers had only limited SCK due to the curriculum constraints and that the Content Gap Course had a positive effect. This study recommends that acquiring the SCK is important for the students’ success as emerging teachers and effective teaching measures and changes in the teacher training curriculum of the university can be used as tools to enhance the preparation of prospective teachers of the country.

Published in: London International Conference on Education (LICE-2016)

• Date of Conference: 14-17 November 2016
• DOI: 10.2053/LICE.2016.0047
• ISBN: 978-1-908320-76-6
• Conference Location: Heathrow Windsor Marriott Hotel, UK