Your search found 23 results.

Descriptors:
Mathematics Instruction; Problem Solving; Educational Research; Evidence; Teaching Methods; Mathematical Applications; Group Instruction; Self Management; Reflection; Visual Aids; Protocol Analysis; Discussion (Teaching Technique); Mathematical Concepts; Algebra; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Grade 7; Grade 8

Abstract:
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) publishes practice guides in education to bring the best available evidence and expertise to bear on current challenges in education. Authors of practice guides combine their expertise with the findings of rigorous research, when available, to develop specific recommendations for addressing these challenges. The authors rate the strength of the research evidence supporting each of their recommendations. The goal of this practice guide is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations that address the challenge of improving mathematical problem solving in grades 4 through 8. The guide provides practical, clear information on critical topics related to improving mathematical problem solving and is based on the best available evidence as judged by the authors. Appended are: (1) Postscript from the Institute of Education Sciences; (2) About the Authors; (3) Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest; and (4) Rationale for Evidence Ratings. (Contains 9 tables, 21 examples and 303 endnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Social Justice; Urban Schools; Educational Change; Research Reports; Content Analysis; Urban Teaching; Literature Reviews; Meta Analysis; Effective Schools Research; Teacher Education Curriculum; Teacher Education Programs; Public Schools; Educational Strategies; Educational Improvement

Abstract:
This article describes how one university-based center, UCLA's Center X, has worked to prepare and sustain urban educators over the past 16 years. Synthesizing findings from more than 20 articles, papers, books, and dissertations that report on Center X's work, we argue that three key activities are necessary to spur change and ensure a high-quality, stable workforce: (1) Firmly embed teacher learning and development in the context of urban schools and communities; (2) Recruit and prepare a diverse local workforce of social justice educators for urban schools; and (3) Support the continual learning and career development of educators working to make a difference. The article concludes with implications for other university-based teacher learning centers seeking to recruit, prepare, and sustain powerful educators in the schools that need them most. (Contains 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Thinking Skills; Mathematical Logic; Elementary School Mathematics; Elementary School Students; Cognitive Processes; Faculty Development; Questioning Techniques; Teaching Methods; Mathematics Instruction; Algebra; Mathematical Concepts

Abstract:
Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) researchers have found that while teachers readily ask initial questions to elicit students' mathematical thinking, they struggle with how to follow up on student ideas. This study examines the classrooms of three teachers who had engaged in algebraic reasoning CGI professional development. We detail teachers' questions and how they relate to students' making explicit their complete and correct explanations. We found that after the initial "How did you get that?" question, a great deal of variability existed among teachers' questions and students' responses. (Contains 5 tables and 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Mathematics Education; Teaching Methods; Intervention; Problem Solving; Outcomes of Education; Professional Development; Academic Achievement; Evaluation

Abstract:
Collaborative group work has great potential to promote student learning, and increasing evidence exists about the kinds of interaction among students that are necessary to achieve this potential. Less often studied is the role of the teacher in promoting effective group collaboration. This article investigates the extent to which teachers' instructional practices were related to small-group dialogue in four urban elementary mathematics classrooms in the US. Using videotaped and audiotaped recordings of whole-class and small-group discussions, we examined the extent to which teachers pressed students to explain their thinking during their interventions with small groups and during whole-class discussions, and we explored the relationship between teachers' practices and the nature and extent of students' explaining during collaborative group work. While teachers used a variety of instructional practices to structure and orchestrate students' dialogue in small groups, only probing students' explanations to uncover details of their thinking and problem-solving strategies exhibited a strong relationship with student explaining. Implications for future research, professional development, and teacher education are discussed. (Contains 6 tables and 6 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Student Behavior; Academic Achievement; Cooperation; Teaching Methods; Discourse Analysis; Persuasive Discourse; Teacher Student Relationship; Thinking Skills; Interpersonal Communication; Learning Processes

Abstract:
Prior research on collaborative learning identifies student behaviors that significantly predict student achievement, such as giving explanations of one's thinking. Less often studied is the role of teachers' instructional practices in collaboration among students. This article investigates the extent to which teachers engage in practices that support students' explanations of their thinking, and how these teacher practices might be related to the nature of explanations that students give when asked by the teacher to collaborate with each other. The teachers observed here, all of whom received specific instruction in eliciting the details of student thinking, varied significantly in the extent to which they asked students to elaborate on their suggestions. This variation corresponded to variation across classrooms in the nature and extent of student explanations during collaborative conversations and to differences in student achievement. (Contains 9 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Improvement; Comparative Analysis; Mathematics Teachers; Professional Development; Teaching Methods; Mathematics Instruction; Elementary School Teachers; Communities of Practice; Educational Environment; Self Concept; Teacher Role; Concept Formation; Individual Development

Abstract:
Despite the prevalence of professional development in schools and the variability in its implementation, little research has been conducted on how professional development makes its way into the classroom. Even when teachers participate in high-quality professional development, there remains a large and often undocumented variability in how teachers make use of ideas learned. Therefore, educational researchers and professional developers need to better understand the dilemmas and choices teachers face in making use of learned practices. The goal of this particular study was to understand the relationships between professional development and classroom practice. The authors looked at the ways teachers participated in the communities and their identities as teachers of mathematics across the communities. Examining teachers in both settings allowed for a comparative analysis of teachers' participation in and identities around their professional development and classroom community. To highlight the ways in which identity help them make sense of the relationship, they focus on detailing the participation and identities of two of the particular workgroup teachers. (Contains 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teaching Methods; Student Participation; Classroom Communication; Elementary School Mathematics; Mathematics Education; Mathematics Instruction; Thinking Skills; Learning Processes; Cognitive Processes; Discussion (Teaching Technique); Teacher Student Relationship; Questioning Techniques

Abstract:
The importance of student talk in mathematics classrooms figures prominently in curriculum and teaching standards. Student talk is a vehicle for increasing student learning and for helping teachers monitor student understanding and inform student instructional practices. Although researchers have begun to study the moves teachers may make to support students in making their mathematical thinking explicit, sharing out with others and using it as the basis of conversation, much remains to be known about the teacher practices that help students clarify and communicate their mathematical thinking. To learn more about these teacher practices, authors look at what teachers say and do as they engage with their students in mathematical conversation and how students participate in relation to what teachers say and do. This report examines the questions teachers ask and how those questions support students to detail their mathematical thinking. Although all teachers in this study asked students to explain how they solved problems, an important teacher practice for encouraging further student elaboration and giving complete and correct explanations was asking further questions about specific aspects of student answers or explanations. The authors describe the variety of teacher questioning practices and the differences in patterns of student participation that emerged. (Contains 2 footnotes and 7 tables.) [This work was also supported by the Academic Senate on Research, Los Angeles Division, University of California; and the Diversity in Mathematics Education Center for Learning and Teaching (DIME).] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Faculty Development; Algebra; Mathematical Logic; Thinking Skills; Urban Schools; Elementary School Teachers; Elementary School Students; Comprehension; Mathematical Concepts; Instructional Effectiveness; Arithmetic; Generalization; Teaching Methods; Learning Strategies

Abstract:
A yearlong experimental study showed positive effects of a professional development project that involved 19 urban elementary schools, 180 teachers, and 3735 students from one of the lowest performing school districts in California. Algebraic reasoning as generalized arithmetic and the study of relations was used as the centerpiece for work with teachers in Grades 1-5. Participating teachers generated a wider variety of student strategies, including more strategies that reflected the use of relational thinking, than did nonparticipating teachers. Students in participating classes showed significantly better understanding of the equal sign and used significantly more strategies reflecting relational thinking during interviews than did students in classes of nonparticipating teachers. (Contains 8 tables and 9 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Inquiry; Mathematics Teachers; Teacher Participation; Teacher Education; Mathematics Instruction; Thinking Skills; Professional Development; Teacher Attitudes; Evaluation Methods; Problem Solving; Sociocultural Patterns

Abstract:
The study describes teachers' collective work in which they developed deeper understanding of their own students' mathematical thinking. Teachers at one school met in monthly workgroups throughout the year. Prior to each workgroup, they posed a similar mathematical problem to their students. The workgroup discussions centered on the student work those problems generated. This study draws on a "transformation of participation" perspective to address the questions: What do teachers learn through collective examination of student work? How is teacher learning evident in shifts in participation in discussions centered on student work? The analyses account for the learning of the group by documenting key shifts in teachers' participation across the year. The first shift in participation occurred when teachers as a group learned to attend to the details of children's thinking. A second shift in participation occurred as teachers began to develop possible instructional trajectories in mathematics. We focus our discussion on the significance of the use of student work and a transformation of participation view in analyzing the learning trajectory of teachers as a group. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Elementary Education; Elementary School Mathematics; Elementary School Teachers; Faculty Development; Mathematics Education; Teacher Improvement

Abstract:
It is commonly argued that teachers need ongoing engagement with ideas about using student reasoning, pedagogy, and subject matter if they are to make sense of the complex demands of current reforms in mathematics education. Drawing on similar arguments about the potential benefits of using student work to organize professional development, this study charts the development of one teacher workgroup over a year. The analysis addresses two questions: (1) How did teachers' talk about student work develop? and (2) What kinds of mathematical and pedagogical issues were raised as a result of their ongoing and changing talk? The study locates teacher learning in their interactions with one another in the workgroup. In monthly cross-grade meetings, teachers brought and discussed student work that was generated by a similar mathematical problem posed to students in each of their classrooms. The paper documents the teachers' efforts to detail their students' reasoning and discuss how their engagement with mathematical and pedagogical concerns created opportunities for teacher learning. (Contains 64 references.) (Author/SM) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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