Identification of Influential factors in Curriculum of BA Mathematics Teacher Training Courses in Iran and the Quality of Their Interconnection

The present study aims to identify influential factors embedded in the curriculum of BA level mathematics teacher training courses in Iran and the quality of their interconnection according to the subject instructors at schools، professors at the universities، BA students of mathematics teacher training courses and MA students of pure and applied mathematics and mathematics education. A total number of 203 mathematics teachers who worked at school participated in this study. The second، third and fourth groups forming the sample also consisted of 15، 38 and 18 participants respectively. Findings of the study which relied on a causal-comparative method revealed that according to the participants، five influential factors in curriculum of BA mathematics teacher training courses in order of importance are: professional qualification of university professors، pedagogical knowledge of the content، optimal teaching of specialized mathematical content، internship and general pedagogy. Although the optimal teaching of specialized mathematical content factor was ranked third in importance، it had the highest rate of reference by the participants. Data analysis showed that decreasing focus on general pedagogy and improving the professional qualification of mathematics professors positively affects optimal teaching of specialized mathematics content. However، less focus on general pedagogy must take place only after optimization of the professional qualification and replacement of instructional content of general pedagogy by pedagogical knowledge of the content.