More Like this

1. Analyzing the development of MKT in content courses

   Lai, Y.; Strayer, J. F.; Lischka, A. E. (November 2018, In T.E. Hodges, G.J. Roy, & A.M. Tyminski, A. M. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   To improve teaching and learning in content courses for secondary mathematics teachers, we take the approach of supporting faculty who teach these courses – often mathematics faculty – in developing their own mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) at the secondary level. We describe a framework that has informed the design of educative curricula for a set of these courses. This framework integrates theory for knowledge development, empirical work on dimensions of knowledge used in teaching, and findings on observable behaviors in teaching that reveal prospective secondary teachers’ knowledge development. 

   more » « less
2. Mathematics instructors’ attention to instructional interactions in discussions of teaching rehearsals

   Czap, L.; Ahrens, S.; Lischka, A.E. (January 2020, Mathematics Education Across Cultures: Proceedings of the 42nd Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   Sacristán, A.I.; Cortés-Zavala, J.C.; Ruiz-Arias, P.M. (Ed.)

   In our project, we develop curricular materials to support prospective secondary teachers’ development of MKT and provide professional development (PD) opportunities for instructors ho will teach with these materials. In this paper, we examine the ways in which mathematics faculty engage in the teaching rehearsal debriefs included in the PD to answer the question: To what instructional interactions do instructors of mathematics content courses attend during rehearsal debriefs enacted in PD? Findings show that mathematics instructors attend to all types of interactions but attention is influenced by instructors’ mathematical knowledge. 

   more » « less
3. Shaping the professional growth of mathematics faculty who teach prospective secondary teachers

   Czap, L.; Ahrens, S.; Lai, Y.; Lischka, A. E. (January 2021, Proceedings of the forty-third annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   D. Olanoff; K. Johnson; S. Spitzer (Ed.)

   Professional development (PD) that supports faculty in teaching courses for prospective secondary teachers, especially courses focused on mathematical knowledge for teaching, are largely absent from higher education, despite the need to improve instruction in these courses. This study examines a novel PD program whose structure was inspired by rehearsals (Lampert et al., 2013). We analyzed PD discussions throughout the year using an instructional triad framework, and we interpreted the PD structure using Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) Interconnected Model for Professional Growth. We suggest that a rehearsal-inspired pedagogy offered opportunities for faculty growth in attending to student contributions. 

   more » « less
4. What Instructional Factors do Prospective Secondary Teachers Attribute to their Learning?

   Lai, Y.; Strayer, J.F.; Bonnesen, C.; Casey, S.; Lischka, A.; Ross, A.; Young, C. (March 2023, Conference for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

   Although it is well known that motivational and cognitive resources influence secondary teachers’ instructional quality, less is known about the tertiary instructional factors that influence secondary teachers’ development of these resources. To address this gap, we report on factors that prospective secondary teachers attribute to their learning. We draw on survey responses of 70 prospective secondary teachers enrolled in mathematics courses for teachers using Mathematics of Doing, Understanding, Learning, and Educating for Secondary Schools (MODULE(S2)) materials in one of four content areas. We triangulate response themes with data from 300 prospective secondary teachers on their perceptions of instructional practices used in a mathematics course for teachers using the same suite of materials. Then, we compare these themes with literature documenting implementation of mathematics curricula in these courses. We argue that coordinating mathematics content, applications of mathematics to teaching practices, and tertiary instructional practices are key to success of these mathematics courses. 

   more » « less
5. The Potential Impact of Opportunities to Apply Mathematics to Teaching on Prospective Secondary Teachers’ Competence

   Lai, Y.; Strayer, J.F.; Ross, A.; Adamoah, K.; Anhalt, C.; Bonnesen, C; Casey, S.; Kohler, B.; Lischka, A.E. (March 2023, Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

   In the past two decades, there has been a trend in materials for mathematics courses for prospective secondary teachers: more opportunities for teachers to “apply mathematics to teaching”. That is, materials increasingly highlight how mathematical knowledge learned in the course can be useful in secondary teaching, and provide opportunities for teachers to harness this knowledge in simulations of teaching. There is little known about the effects of this curricular reform on teachers’ competence. In this report, we use data from the Mathematics of Doing, Understanding, Learning, and Educating for Secondary Schools MODULE(S2) project to examine the potential impact of using such curricular materials. The data include over 300 prospective secondary teachers’ responses to 3 sets of Likert pre-/post-term surveys addressing: mathematical knowledge for teaching; expectancy for enacting selected core teaching practices; and valuing of enacting these practices. We found mean increases across the survey results. We conclude with directions for future research on the impact of this curricular reform. 

   more » « less