Investigating middle school mathematics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge regarding exponential expressions

The most important element of mathematics education is the teacher factor. It is thought that teachers who have a good level of pedagogical content knowledge will perform the targeted mathematics education as desired. In this context, the aim of the research is to examine middle school mathematics teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) on exponential numbers in its sub-component, Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Understanding of Students. The case study model, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of four mathematics teachers working in public middle schools in Nevşehir city center with different service periods. The teachers were selected using the purposeful sampling method, and data collection was carried out in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The data of the research were obtained by semi-structured interview and semi-structured observation techniques, and the obtained interview data were recorded as audio and video. Descriptive analysis and content analysis techniques were used in the analysis of the data obtained through interviews and observations. According to the findings obtained from the research, it is thought that as the professional experience increases, the pedagogical content knowledge of the teachers also increases. In addition, it is understood that individual teaching experience affects teachers' pedagogical content knowledge positively According to the results obtained from the research, suggestions were made for teacher education and researchers.