More Like this

1. Supporting Mathematics Instructors’ Transition to Equity-Minded Active Instruction Using a Community of Practice Framework

   https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14091001  

   Marzocchi, Alison S; Stone-Johnstone, Amelia; Kurianski, Kristin; Soto, Roberto C (September 2024, Education Sciences)

   With evidence mounting on the benefits of equity-minded and active mathematics instruction, increasing numbers of mathematics faculty members are seeking to transform their instruction. Yet, many lack the skills and/or confidence to make the transition. To support faculty in meaningful instructional improvement, the authors of this paper facilitate frequent and innovative professional development (PD) guided by a community of practice framework. PD is intentionally designed to be incremental and supportive. Using one-on-one interview data from ten faculty participants who participated in PD on equity-minded and active mathematics instruction, we report on three crucial characteristics of a community of practice: the domain, the community, and the practice. Findings have implications for mathematics departments that aspire to support instructors to transform their teaching. Incremental PD guided by a community of practice framework could support faculty through the challenges of instructional transformation. 

   more » « less
2. 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
3. Classroom Observations Indicate the Positive Impacts of Discipline-Based Professional Development

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-019-00015-w  

   Viskupic, Karen; Ryker, Katherine; Teasdale, Rachel; Manduca, Cathryn; Iverson, Ellen; Farthing, Dori; Bruckner, Monica Z.; McFadden, Rory (May 2019, Journal for STEM Education Research)

   We compared 236 geoscience instructors’ histories of professional development (PD) participation with classroom observations using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) that describe undergraduate classes as Student-Centered (score ≥ 50), Transitional (score 31–49) or Teacher-Centered (score ≤ 30). Instructors who attended PD (n = 111) have higher average RTOP scores (44.5 vs. 34.2) and are more frequently observed teaching Student-Centered classes (33% vs. 13%) than instructors with no PD (p < 0.001). Instructors who attended PD that is topically-aligned with content taught during the classroom observation are likely to have RTOP scores that are higher by 13.5 points (p < 0.0001), and are 5.6 times more likely to teach a Student-Centered class than instructors without topically-aligned PD. Comparable odds of teaching Student-Centered classes (5.8x) occur for instructors who attended two topical PD events but were observed teaching a different topic. Models suggest that instructors with at least 24 h of PD are significantly more likely to teach a Student-Centered class than instructors with fewer hours. Our results highlight the effectiveness of discipline-specific PD in impacting teaching practices, and the importance of attending more than one such PD event to aid transfer of learning. 

   more » « less
4. DEVELOPING POLITICAL CONOCIMIENTO: TRAJECTORIES OF MATHEMATICS TEACHERS

   Aguirre, B. (October 2023, Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   Lamberg, T. (Ed.)

   This paper focuses on the trajectories of two mathematics teachers in developing Political Conocimiento through one year of Professional Development (PD) on culturally responsive mathematics teaching. The PD was organized around teacher and student noticing, positionality, community partnerships and action research. The study found that the teachers’ discourse practices shifted from whiteness pedagogies towards politicized notions of schooling, caring, and mathematics learning. The paper discusses the dominant ideologies that teachers reproduced in their discourses around mathematics education and interactions with students. It also illustrates the teachers’ trajectories of Political Conocimiento through the deconstruction of the role that race plays in their positionalities, their classrooms, and school. 

   more » « less
5. Constructing Instructors’ Classroom Practices from Students’ Survey Responses

   Adiredja, A P; Kale; B; Jarnutowski, B (August 2025, Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, SIGMAA on RUME.)

   Cook, S; Katz, B P; Melhuish, K (Ed.)

   This preliminary report shares an outcome from a summer professional development (PD) activity with university instructors. Instructors participated in four PD meetings, then immediately taught a five-day summer workshop using inquiry, working primarily with first-generation minoritized students. While instructor participants’ exit interviews of the project identified their experience in the summer PD as pivotal to their development, we know little of how students experienced the instructors’ teaching during the workshop. Our analysis focuses on two items from student post-workshop survey wherein students shared their feedback of their instructor and their experiences more broadly. This analysis allowed us to get a good sense of the instructors’ individual practices and revealed convergence in their practices. Pedagogically, instructors utilized group work and deemphasized direct instructions, while prioritizing students’ engagement in discussions and struggling through conceptual ideas. Relationally, instructors were responsive to students’ mathematical needs and created a respectful, safe, and welcoming classroom environment. 

   more » « less