This case study inspected mathematical learning opportunities that employed the results from the participating preservice teachers' (n=75) original visual arts creation process. Data obtained during this study provided empirical evidence for the educational viability of employing original Mondrian-style rectangle sets as a context for generating…

Mathematics self-efficacy (beliefs about oneself as a learner of mathematics) and mathematics teaching efficacy (beliefs about oneself as a mathematics teacher) are important constructs that influence pre-service teachers' (PTs') learning and teaching (Bandura 1986). However, less is known qualitatively about how PTs define good teaching and…

Learning to facilitate whole-class mathematical discussions is a complex task. Teachers must become adept at using discourse moves to elicit and extend student thinking and move discussions towards a mathematical point. Practice-based mathematics methods courses give pre-service teachers opportunities to rehearse these moves in a controlled…

In this paper I discuss the possibilities for exploring the hundred chart kinesthetically with elementary preservice teachers using a life-size hundred chart--an innovative tool, homemade from a shower curtain--to build quantity sense. Preservice teachers explored creative approaches to teach mathematics using the life-size hundred chart and…

Physical models for exploring multiplication are fixtures in elementary classrooms. The most widely used physical models of multiplication are collections of discrete things, such as Cuisenaire rods, Unifix Cubes, or Base-10 Blocks. But discrete physical models are limited in the products they can represent. By contrast, pictorial models, such as…

Generating mathematical conjectures is an important mathematical habit of mind for preservice teachers to develop so that they can, in turn, help their students to develop this skill. In this paper we present a classroom episode in which preservice mathematics teachers experience conjecturing in the context of a rich, open-ended task. They also…

This study examines potential bias with respect to perceived gender and ethnicity in preservice teachers' professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking. The goal of the study was to explore how, and to what extent bias emerges within pre-service teachers' professional noticing of children of differing perceived races and genders. Our…

This article examines how the Child Mathematics Inquiry Portfolio (CMIP), a semester-long field experience project attached to an elementary mathematics methods course, can impact preservice teachers' understanding about teaching and learning mathematics and set them on more positive mathematics teaching journeys as they prepare to enter the…

When teaching through problem solving, effective mathematics teachers need to lead discussions that assist students in making connections between different solution strategies. However, while teaching a methods course for preservice teachers (PSTs), we noticed that after solving a problem and presenting various solution strategies, many PSTs…

Mentoring is an important aspect of mathematics teacher education, and in particular, pre-service teacher education. Faculty at a large Midwestern university developed and refined a mentoring program designed to help pre-service secondary mathematics teachers, called Scholars, become future leaders in mathematics education. This paper describes…

I qualitatively reviewed mathematics education literature to offer explicit classroom-based examples and recommendations on the learning opportunities that can be embedded into mathematics content courses, designed specifically for prospective elementary teachers (ePTs), to help develop their knowledge of students and their mathematical thinking,…

The purpose of this research was to compare two definitions and assessments of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). As part of a larger study, nine current and future teachers took an online version of the Measures of Knowledge for Teaching (MKT)--Mathematics assessment and the Cognitively Activating Instruction in Mathematics…

In this paper we examine deficit perspectives that prospective elementary school teachers (PTs) noticed their mentor teachers held with regards to classifying students by their achievement or behavior. Using a sociopolitical framework, we explored the following research question: What labels and forms of labeling of students have elementary school…

Teaching for social justice is a critical pedagogy used to empower students to be social agents in the world they live. This critical pedagogy has extended to mathematics education. Over the last decade, mathematics education researchers have conceptualized what it means to teach mathematics for social justice, but little is known about preservice…

Instruction promoting reasoning and proof should be a part of K-12 mathematics teaching. Preservice teachers (PSTs) need mathematics content instruction that helps them construct valid justifications for mathematical notions and develop positive perceptions of proof. This case study describes instruction with proof-related tasks and manipulatives…