We investigate teachers’ initial in-the-moment responses to instances of high-potential
student mathematical thinking (SMT) during whole-class discussion to understand
what it means to productively incorporate SMT into instruction. Teachers’ initial
responses were coded using the Teacher Response Coding scheme, which disentangles
the teacher action, who the response is directed to, and the degree to which the SMT
is honored. We found that teachers incorporated students’ actions and ideas in their
response, but tended to address the SMT themselves and did not fully take advantage
of the SMT. We consider the productivity of teachers’ initial responses in relation to
principles of productive use of SMT and compare the results to those of a previous
study of teachers’ hypothetical initial responses to SMT in an interview setting.
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Teachers’ responses to instances of student mathematical thinking with varied potential to support student learning
Teacher responses to student mathematical thinking (SMT) matter because the way in
which teachers respond affects student learning. Although studies have provided
important insights into the nature of teacher responses, little is known about the extent
to which these responses take into account the potential of the instance of SMT to
support learning. This study investigated teachers’ responses to a common set of
instances of SMT with varied potential to support students’ mathematical learning, as
well as the productivity of such responses. To examine variations in responses in
relation to the mathematical potential of the SMT to which they are responding, we
coded teacher responses to instances of SMT in a scenario-based interview. We did so
using a scheme that analyzes who interacts with the thinking (Actor), what they are
given the opportunity to do in those interactions (Action), and how the teacher response
relates to the actions and ideas in the contributed SMT (Recognition). The study found
that teachers tended to direct responses to the student who had shared the thinking, use
a small subset of actions, and explicitly incorporate students’ actions and ideas. To
assess the productivity of teacher responses, we first theorized the alignment of
different aspects of teacher responses with our vision of responsive teaching. We then
used the data to analyze the extent to which specific aspects of teacher responses were
more or less productive in particular circumstances. We discuss these circumstances
and the implications of the findings for teachers, professional developers, and
researchers.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10218001
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Mathematics Education Research Journal
- ISSN:
- 1033-2170
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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We investigate teachers’ initial in-the-moment responses to instances of high-potential student mathematical thinking (SMT) during whole class discussion to understand what it means to productively incorporate SMT into instruction. Teachers’ initial responses were coded using the Teacher Response Coding scheme, which disentangles the teacher action, who the response is directed to, and the degree to which the SMT is honored. We found that teachers incorporated students’ actions and ideas in their response, but tended to address the SMT themselves and did not fully take advantage of the SMT. We consider the productivity of teachers’ initial responses in relation to principles of productive use of SMT and compare the results to those of a previous study of teachers’ hypothetical initial responses to SMT in an interview setting.more » « less
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We investigate teachers’ initial in-the-moment responses to instances of high-potential student mathematical thinking (SMT) during whole class discussion to understand what it means to productively incorporate SMT into instruction. Teachers’ initial responses were coded using the Teacher Response Coding scheme, which disentangles the teacher action, who the response is directed to, and the degree to which the SMT is honored. We found that teachers incorporated students’ actions and ideas in their response, but tended to address the SMT themselves and did not fully take advantage of the SMT. We consider the productivity of teachers’ initial responses in relation to principles of productive use of SMT and compare the results to those of a previous study of teachers’ hypothetical initial responses to SMT in an interview setting.more » « less
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