Author(s):
Need: This project focuses on elementary mathematics teacher preparation. Unfortunately, undergraduates majoring in elementary education rarely have ample opportunity to practice engaging students in mathematical discourse in their teacher preparation programs. We hypothesize that the co-design of technologies that enable simulation of mathematical discourse with elementary mathematics methods instructors will result in a tool that teacher educators can use with pre-service teacher candidates.Guiding Question: How do simulated rehearsals with automated post-rehearsal feedback impact the type of mathematical questions pre-service teachers ask?Outcomes: Current results from two cycles of preservice teachers (n=94) demonstrate a statistically significant increase in the number of probing and exploring questions that pre-service teachers asked during simulation use. Results also indicated that automated post-rehearsal feedback can improve pre-service teachers’ awareness of how different types of teacher questions can be classified, what types of questions they currently ask, and how they might ask questions differently in the future.Broader Impacts: Early exposure and opportunities to engage in high-quality mathematics practices are crucial to elementary students’ future success in STEM classes and careers and the development of mathematical identity. Through project activities, we aim to increase participation in STEM by promoting educator development both at the K-12 and university levels, focused on fostering rich mathematical discourse in their classrooms. We hope that by increasing the practice opportunities for and feedback upon mathematical questioning skills, pre-service teacher candidates will be able to translate this to K-12 students and provide equitable and student-centered mathematics instruction.
Coauthors
James P. Bywater, James Madion University; Don Brown, University of Virginia
