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   Hord, C. ; Hoyng, C ; Krumpelman, M. L. ; Baker, J. ( April 2021 , Insights on learning disabilities)

   In this paper, we make a case for the importance of teaching secondary school level algebra to students with learning disabilities (LD). Furthermore, we illustrate how they struggle and present best-practices on how they are best supported. We demonstrate effective ways of how teachers can show students with LD how to solve challenging algebra problems. In particular, we depict how educators can help learners with LD show their work on paper in ways that support their thinking processes as they engage with challenging algebra problems. 

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2. Impact of a Teacher Action Planner Capturing Student Ideas on Customization Decisions

   Gerard, L. ( January 2020 , Computersupported collaborative learning)

   This design-based research takes advantage of advanced technologies to support teachers to rapidly respond to evidence about student ideas generated in their classrooms. Leveraging advances in natural language processing methods, the Teacher Action Planner (TAP) analyzes students’ written explanations embedded in web-based inquiry projects to provide teachers with a report on student progress in developing the three-dimensional understanding called for by the Next Generation Science Standards. Based on the pattern in student scores, the TAP recommends research-based ways for teachers to customize instruction. This study examines how ten middle school teachers in 4 schools used the analysis of student ideas and suggestions for instructional customization presented in the TAP. This paper reports on how well their implemented customizations addressed student learning needs. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for redesign of the TAP. 

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   Wong N. ; Elsayed, R. ; Perez, L. R. ; Daehler, K. R. ; & Chen, P. ( March 2024 , Ninety-seventh annual international conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST))

   This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of eleven experienced STEM educators who worked alongside developers to design and implement data-rich lessons in their grades 6–9 mathematics and science classrooms. In the context of a project that seeks to develop professional learning for data fluency, researchers documented the co-development process to articulate a model of what teachers need to know and be able to do in order to support their students’ data fluency. The project team distilled key findings into two framing documents: 1) a description of high-leverage areas of focus for PL which highlight challenges faced by teachers, which are common, important for data fluency, and represent opportunities for supporting teacher and student growth; and 2) a logic model that describes how the PL course under development is expected to influence teacher, classroom, and student outcomes. This paper contributes to the larger education community by defining the professional learning needs of educators who wish to integrate data into their STEM classrooms. These frameworks provide designers and researchers with touchpoints to structure and study PL experiences, lesson materials, and other classroom resources for both new and veteran educators. These tools can provide STEM teachers with guidance for reflecting on their current knowledge, skills, beliefs, and teaching practices that help their students become more data fluent. 

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4. “Wait, Wait, Go Back”: Investigating Social Supports for Homework During Do-design Sessions with Teachers

   Hatch, Paul ; Michaelis, Joseph ( June 2023 , Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS))

   Teachers use interpersonal classroom skills to support their students’ learning in the classroom, but homework is done in isolation without the affordances of classroom interactions. Here we investigate how a homework tool could empower teachers to utilize their interpersonal classroom skills and provide new ways to support students outside of the classroom. Through three phases of interviews and co-design, we co-designed software for teachers to create their own robot-assisted homework activities. We found that teachers' existing expertise initially led to wrong assumptions about the tool but after viewing an exemplifying stimulus they shifted their mental model of the tool and of homework in general. These findings can help understand (1) how pedagogical expertise may hinder utilization of new tools, and (2) how a catalyst may shift existing perceptions and facilitate the use of new paradigms to support student learning. 

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5. An Exploration of a Mathematics Teachers Concerns Enacting Project-Based Instruction.

   Shockey, Tod ( April 2020 , SITE)

   null (Ed.)

   We present a case of one teacher’s engagement in project-based learning for algebra I students. This teacher was a member of a cohort of mathematics teachers and career technical educators who participated in a two-week intensive summer institute investigating autonomous vehicles. During the academic year, the follow up support for these educators includes classroom support and monthly meetings where teachers give a formal presentation on their lessons. This paper presents the first of nine presentations that will be given by the mathematics educators during the 2020-2021 academic year. While her students loved the lesson, she reveals that the lesson will have to serve as an algebra I curriculum add-on as she does not perceive that this activity will adequately prepare her students for the state mandated algebra I examination. 

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