The project will create a system of online mathematics teacher professional development modules for middle and high school teachers. Teachers will engage in online, asynchronous, high-quality mathematics learning experiences that mirror research-based productive classroom practices and models of instruction that feature active learning and student collaboration, explanation, and discussion.
An Online Reflection and Community-based Instructional Development System for Mathematics Education
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The project will create a system of online mathematics teacher professional development modules for middle and high school teachers. Teachers will engage in online, asynchronous, high-quality mathematics learning experiences that mirror research-based productive classroom practices and models of instruction that feature active learning and student collaboration, explanation, and discussion. The modules will integrate mathematics content and teaching strategies for teachers. The teachers will work collaboratively using math tasks, their own students' work, and other resources to develop teaching practices to support mathematical problem solving. Developing online environments for teacher development is critical to reaching greater numbers of teachers, providing flexible options for learning, and taking advantage of online opportunities for collaborative learning. In particular, the software will allow teachers to share, comment and discuss mathematical work.
The field of mathematics education needs to understand the development and implementation of online learning modules for mathematics teacher development. This project will create an environment that integrates content and pedagogical knowledge via mathematics-focused modules. The project builds on the Online Asynchronous Collaboration in Mathematics Teacher Education model to create the modules. The project's research questions are about the how the teachers build mathematics knowledge for teaching together online. They also examine teacher reflection on students' mathematical works, teacher collaboration, and reciprocal perspective-taking. Finally, the research examines how shifts in instruction are supported as teachers are learning new practices in the modules. The implementation study will use data such as measures of teacher knowledge, questionnaires, artifacts from the online platform, interviews, and other sources. These will be analyzed using a mixed methods approach to understand teachers' learning, collaboration and use of the modules and to refine the modules themselves. The findings of the study should inform the design of online learning experiences for mathematics teachers, new models for teacher development, and understanding of secondary mathematics teacher knowledge and practice.