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1. Professional Obligations in Mathematics Courses for Teachers

   Herbst, P; Chazan, D; Brown, A; Mesa, V (October 2023, The Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America (SIGMAA) for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

   Cook, S; Katz, B; Moore_Russo, D (Ed.)

   This theoretical contribution draws on earlier work by Herbst and Chazan (2012; also Chazan et al., 2016) in which they describe the position of a mathematics teacher in an educational institution as accountable to stakeholders who issue four types of professional obligations. We propose an application and adaptation of that framework intended to address the case of instructors who teach undergraduate mathematics courses to future teachers. Considerations of not only the academic but also the professional ends of these courses are key in our application of the theory of obligations. 

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2. Teaching Geometry for Secondary Teachers: What are the Tensions Instructors Need to Manage?

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-023-00216-0  

   Herbst, Patricio; Brown, Amanda M; Ion, Michael; Margolis, Claudine (August 2024, International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

   This paper contributes to understanding the work of teaching the university geometry courses that are taken by prospective secondary teachers. We ask what are the tensions that instructors need to manage as they plan and teach these courses. And we use these tensions to argue that mathematics instruction in geometry courses for secondary teachers includes complexities that go beyond those of other undergraduate mathematics courses–an argument that possibly applies to other mathematics courses for teachers. Building on the notion that the work of teaching involves managing tensions, and relying on interviews of 32 instructors, we characterize 5 tensions (content, experiences, students, instructor, and institutions) that instructors of geometry for teachers manage in their work. We interpret these tensions as emerging from a dialectic between two normative understandings of instruction in these courses, using the instructional triangle to represent these. 

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3. How beginning secondary mathematics teachers reconcile competing professional obligations.

   Buchbinder, Orly; Brisard, Sophia; Butler, Rebecca (January 2025, Proceedings of the 46th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA))

   Kosko, K; Caniglia, J; Courtney, S; Zolfaghari, M; Morris, G (Ed.)

   Building on the theory of practical rationality, we explore how three beginning secondary mathematics teachers reconcile competing professional obligations, namely: disciplinary, individual, and institutional obligations. As these teachers transitioned from supervised teaching to teaching their own classrooms, they reconciled competing obligations and developed their own ideas about mathematics teaching and learning. The analysis revealed that it was only institutional obligation that conflicted with either disciplinary, or individual obligation, or with teachers’ own teaching preferences. No other two obligations appeared to clash. The conflict with institutional obligation was reconciled in favor of institutional obligation in less than 30% of instances. In the vast majority of cases, another obligation took precedence. 

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4. HOW INSTRUCTORS OF UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS COURSES MANAGE TENSIONS RELATED TO TEACHING COURSES FOR TEACHERS?

   Brown, A; Herbst, P; Ion, M (November 2023, University of Nevada, Reno.)

   Lamberg, T; Moss, D (Ed.)

   For centuries, there has been a debate about the role of undergraduate education in society. Some have argued that universities should focus on practical skills and knowledge to prepare students for the workforce, while others have supported the idea that universities should prioritize providing a broad understanding of disciplinary knowledge and practices. In this paper, we leverage data collected from 32 interviews to explore how instructors of the undergraduate geometry course for teachers (GeT) talk about the various tensions they experience in their work. Three distinct ways of talking about tensions emerged from the data: the tension as a dilemma that needs to be managed, the tension as a place to take sides, the tension as an opportunity to reframe aspects of the work. In closing we draw connections between these patterns in the data and the two perspectives about the role of undergraduate mathematics courses in preparing PTs for the work of teaching. 

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5. Empowering Course Coordinators: Examining Foundational Math Coordination Orientations

   Rogers, K C; Long, N G (August 2025, Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

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

   This study explores the evolving approaches of eight foundational math course coordinators, uncovering key insights into their coordination strategies and mechanisms to enhance their efforts. These coordinators oversee critical courses, including College Algebra, Quantitative Reasoning, Introductory Statistics, Math for Architecture and Construction Management, Precalculus, Calculus, and mathematics courses for prospective elementary teachers. Through a dataset derived from surveys, self-reflections, and professional development workshops, we investigated their perspectives and experiences as coordinators. We analyzed data from both the coordinators and the graduate student instructors they oversee. Specifically, we highlight the integration of instructional routines that promote mathematical reasoning and the development of course-specific dynamic calendar systems, both of which have the potential to improve the instructional effectiveness and coordination of foundational math courses. Our findings offer fresh perspectives on how to better support course coordinators in their crucial role, ultimately benefiting both instructors and students. 

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