Matching Items (6)
Description
ABSTRACT There is a continuing emphasis in the United States to improve student's mathematical abilities and one approach is to better prepare teachers. This study investigated the effects of using lesson study with preservice secondary mathematics teachers to improve their proficiency at planning and implementing instruction. The participants were students (preservice teachers) in an undergraduate teacher preparation program at a private university who were enrolled in a mathematics methods course for secondary math teachers. This project used lesson study to engage preservice teachers in collaboratively creating lessons, field testing them, using feedback to revise the lessons, and re-teaching the revised lesson. The preservice teachers worked through multiple cycles of the process in their secondary math methods class receiving feedback from their peers and instructor prior to teaching the lessons in their field experience (practicum). A mixed methods approach was implemented to investigate the preservice teacher's abilities to plan and implement instruction as well as their efficacy for teaching. Data were collected from surveys, video analysis, student reflections, and semi-structured interviews. The findings from this study indicate that lesson study for preservice teachers was an effective means of teacher education. Lesson study positively impacted the preservice teachers' ability to plan and teach mathematical lessons more effectively. The preservice teachers successfully transitioned from teaching in the methods classroom to their field experience classroom during this innovation. Further, the efficacy of the preservice teachers to teach secondary mathematics increased based on this innovation. Further action research cycles of lesson study with preservice teachers are recommended.
ContributorsMostofo, Jameel (Author) / Zambo, Ronald (Thesis advisor) / Elliott, Sherman (Committee member) / Heck, Thomas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Undergraduate teacher preparation programs face scrutiny regarding pre-service teachers' preparation upon graduation. Specifically, scholars contend that teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare pre-service teachers to plan for effective instruction. Situated in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University, this action research study used the Theory of Pedagogical Content Knowledge to examine (a) how pre-service teachers developed unit planning practices using the Backward Design framework and (b) the pedagogical teaching practices used as they implemented the unit plan in the classroom. During the student teaching course, pre-service teachers received instruction on how to use the Backward Design framework to plan a unit of instruction to implement in their placement classroom. Results from the mixed-methods study provided evidence that Backward Design was an effective way for pre-service teachers to plan instruction. Results from the study indicated that implementing and reflecting on lessons taught from the unit plan contributed to the pedagogical teaching practices used in the classroom. Furthermore, results demonstrated that designing, implementing, and reflecting on the unit plan contributed to a shift in how participants viewed themselves. Through the study, they began to view themselves more as a teacher, than a pre-service student teacher. Keywords: teacher preparation programs, unit planning, instructional practices
ContributorsBoozer, April (Author) / Carlson, David (Thesis advisor) / Barnard, Wendy (Committee member) / Holmes, Shaun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Federal mandates, such as, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) set high standards, but in reality did little to promote critical thinking instruction and learning in our nation's schools. Race to the Top is our nation's current attempt to improve education and thanks to this legislation there is now a set of common core standards aimed at infusing critical thinking into the curriculum. Districts in Arizona are struggling to provide common core training to prepare teachers to teach these new, rigorous standards. This is a problem because teaching critical thinking is challenging. While grade level teams often get together, little time is devoted to create lessons that are focused on deep learning and little time is set aside to observe lessons and reflect on student engagement. One potential solution to this may be lesson study. Lesson study is a method of professional development that encourages teachers to reflect on their teaching through a cycle of collaborative lesson planning and observation. The lesson study cycle connects with the constructed nature of learning provided by Vygotsky Space. This action research was designed to explore how 10 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers at a K-8 school in Arizona learned how to infuse critical thinking into their lessons. This study took place from July to November of 2011. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data. Quantitative measures included Likert-items on a survey and lesson plans scored with the district rubric. Qualitative measures included open-ended survey items, transcriptions of lesson debriefs, reflective learning logs, and the researcher's personal field notes. Data were analyzed separately and then triangulated to reduce bias. Findings from this study indicate that although it was challenging for the teachers, lesson study enabled them to successfully integrate critical thinking into their lesson plans. The process of lesson study increased the teachers' efficacy to create lessons, and it helped them understand how important critical thinking was for their students. The teachers also came to value the lesson study process as a positive approach to professional development. Based on these findings, implications are made, and further action research cycles suggested.
ContributorsLawlor, Leonor Aguilar (Author) / Zambo, Debby (Thesis advisor) / Hansen, Cory (Committee member) / Horn, Patty (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Due to the push down of academics, today's elementary students are being asked to learn more concepts and sit for longer periods of time. Sitting slows thinking, whereas movement wakes up the brain. Using movement to learn is embodied cognition, or learning through both the body and the brain. Movement should be part of instruction for young students; however teachers are often not sure how to incorporate movement in their lesson plans. The Japanese practice of lesson study may help because it embeds teachers' new learning in their classrooms while intimately connecting it to the learning of their students, and it links with the cyclical, constructed theory of learning provided by Vygotsky Space. If teachers incorporate movement in their lessons, children have the potential to become more engaged and learn. This action research study was designed to understand if two first grade, two second grade, and one third grade teacher at a Title One elementary school in the Southwestern United States could learn how to use movement more during instruction through lesson study. This innovation took place for 14-weeks during which 12 lessons using movement were developed and taught. Data were collected prior to the study and during each portion of the cyclical process including, while teachers learned, during lessons using movement, and when lessons were discussed and changed. The data sources were pre and post teacher surveys, student surveys, observation protocols, lesson plans, transcripts of lesson study meetings, and researcher notes. To reduce bias a triangulated mixed methods design was used. Results indicate that through lesson study teachers were able to learn about movement, try it, observe the results, and adjust it to fit their teaching style and their students' needs. Data showed increased student engagement in lessons that incorporated movement as evidenced in the students' words, bodies, and learning. After participating in the study, the teachers realized they personally use movement to learn, and teachers' efficacy regarding their ability to plan movement in their lessons increased. Additionally, they started purposefully planning movement across their curriculum. Based on the results, further cycles
ContributorsLyding, Linnea (Author) / Zambo, Debby (Thesis advisor) / Hansen, Cory (Committee member) / Isai, Shelley (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
A reform movement in the United States has focused on STEM education and 21st century soft skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. This spotlight on STEM instruction provided an opportunity to explore how K-14 STEM teacher participants perceived a Design Thinking Instructional Problems (DTIP) approach to developing instructional lessons. The study used a convergent parallel mixed-methods design with a survey instrument and a multiple case study focused on K-14 in-service STEM teachers. Data were collected from teacher participants during two five-week summer Research Experience for Teachers (RET) programs as part of two separate National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Engineering Research Centers (ERC) located at a large southwestern university in the United States (n=16). The study was conducted over three phases. During Phase I and II, teacher participants experienced a Design Thinking Overview workshop and weekly DTIP professional development sessions to facilitate the development of an RET instructional lesson. Pre- and post-program DTIP surveys and background interviews were conducted with all teacher participants (n=16). From this original group, teacher participants were selected as cases. Implementation observations and post-implementation interviews were conducted with these case-teachers (n=10). The study included frequency analysis and descriptive statistics of survey data. Qualitative data were analyzed using direct interpretation, thematic analysis, and open coding with the constant comparative method. A variety of arrays, summaries, and matrices were used to visualize patterns across and within individual case-teacher results. All 16 teacher participants viewed themselves as designers solving complex instructional problems. All 16 teacher participants found the DTIP professional development sessions to have somewhat to very much provided additional value during their RET summer programs. Six of the 10 case-teachers perceived the DTIP model graphic as mostly to completely corresponding to the way in which they developed their RET instructional lesson. Lastly, eight of the 10 case-teachers chose to embed a Design Thinking student learning strategy into the RET instructional lesson they developed.
ContributorsElwood, Kristin (Author) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Thesis advisor) / Jordan, Michelle E (Committee member) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Mishra, Punya (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
A teacher’s mathematical knowledge for teaching impacts the teacher’s pedagogical actions and goals (Marfai & Carlson, 2012; Moore, Teuscher, & Carlson, 2011), and a teacher’s instructional goals (Webb, 2011) influences the development of the teacher’s content knowledge for teaching. This study aimed to characterize the reciprocal relationship between a teacher’s mathematical knowledge for teaching and pedagogical goals.
Two exploratory studies produced a framework to characterize a teacher’s mathematical goals for student learning. A case study was then conducted to investigate the effect of a professional developmental intervention designed to impact a teacher’s mathematical goals. The guiding research questions for this study were: (a) what is the effect of a professional development intervention, designed to perturb a teacher’s pedagogical goals for student learning to be more attentive to students’ thinking and learning, on a teacher’s views of teaching, stated goals for student learning, and overarching goals for students’ success in mathematics, and (b) what role does a teacher's mathematical teaching orientation and mathematical knowledge for teaching have on a teacher’s stated and overarching goals for student learning?
Analysis of the data from this investigation revealed that a conceptual curriculum supported the advancement of a teacher’s thinking regarding the key ideas of mathematics of lessons, but without time to reflect and plan, the teacher made limited connections between the key mathematical ideas within and across lessons. The teacher’s overarching goals for supporting student learning and views of teaching mathematics also had a significant influence on her curricular choices and pedagogical moves when teaching. The findings further revealed that a teacher’s limited meanings for proportionality contributed to the teacher struggling during teaching to support students’ learning of concepts that relied on understanding proportionality. After experiencing this struggle the teacher reverted back to using skill-based lessons she had used before.
The findings suggest a need for further research on the impact of professional development of teachers, both in building meanings of key mathematical ideas of a teacher’s lessons, and in professional support and time for teachers to build stronger mathematical meanings, reflect on student thinking and learning, and reconsider one’s instructional goals.
Two exploratory studies produced a framework to characterize a teacher’s mathematical goals for student learning. A case study was then conducted to investigate the effect of a professional developmental intervention designed to impact a teacher’s mathematical goals. The guiding research questions for this study were: (a) what is the effect of a professional development intervention, designed to perturb a teacher’s pedagogical goals for student learning to be more attentive to students’ thinking and learning, on a teacher’s views of teaching, stated goals for student learning, and overarching goals for students’ success in mathematics, and (b) what role does a teacher's mathematical teaching orientation and mathematical knowledge for teaching have on a teacher’s stated and overarching goals for student learning?
Analysis of the data from this investigation revealed that a conceptual curriculum supported the advancement of a teacher’s thinking regarding the key ideas of mathematics of lessons, but without time to reflect and plan, the teacher made limited connections between the key mathematical ideas within and across lessons. The teacher’s overarching goals for supporting student learning and views of teaching mathematics also had a significant influence on her curricular choices and pedagogical moves when teaching. The findings further revealed that a teacher’s limited meanings for proportionality contributed to the teacher struggling during teaching to support students’ learning of concepts that relied on understanding proportionality. After experiencing this struggle the teacher reverted back to using skill-based lessons she had used before.
The findings suggest a need for further research on the impact of professional development of teachers, both in building meanings of key mathematical ideas of a teacher’s lessons, and in professional support and time for teachers to build stronger mathematical meanings, reflect on student thinking and learning, and reconsider one’s instructional goals.
ContributorsMarfai, Frank Stephen (Author) / Carlson, Marilyn P. (Thesis advisor) / Ström, April D. (Committee member) / Thompson, Patrick W. (Committee member) / Middleton, James A. (Committee member) / Zandieh, Michelle J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016