Coherent Asynchronous Online Mathematics Teacher Professional Learning

To position students as mathematically competent, middle grades mathematics teachers need easily accessible professional learning (PL), including opportunities to participate in discussions about both mathematics content and teaching practices. A Video in the Middle (VIM) based learning series, the Coherent Asynchronous Online Mathematics Teacher Professional Learning (PL) project will help address this need by producing (1) a refined version of the existing VIM design and development prototype and (2) an asynchronous, collaborative online learning series comprising ten 2.5-hour sessions that focus on positioning students as mathematically competent in representing and conceptualizing transformations-based similarity, slope, or linear functions. 

In Years 1 and 2, the project will focus on iterative development and usability/feasibility testing. In Years 3 and 4, we will conduct a pilot study with 100 middle grades mathematics teachers to determine its impact on teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching related to transformations-based similarity, slope, or linear functions and their understanding of positioning students as mathematically competent. Data collection will include mathematics assessments, surveys, and logs of teacher practice. This project will provide the field with a model for developing content-specific PL in which teaching practices for positioning students in mathematics are presented as inherently intertwined with and inseparable from issues of effective mathematics instruction, as well as a model for scaling rich, impactful professional learning opportunities in a cost-effective way to make such PL readily accessible to more teachers.