Exploring Simulations in Mathematics Teacher Education

Practice-based teacher education has been suggested as one approach to help preservice teachers (PSTs) learn how to enact high- leverage teaching practices such as facilitating a whole class discussion (Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, 2017; McDonald et al., 2013). McDonald et al. (2013) suggested a learning cycle that includes four parts: 1) introduce the practice; 2) prepare for and rehearse the practice; 3) implement the practice with students; and 4) analyze the enactment to inform future cycles. The rehearsal within the learning cycle provides space for the PSTs to practice enacting the instructional practice while receiving feedback from the mathematics teacher educator (MTE) (Kazemi et al., 2016). Due to program structure, course content focus, resources available, and the PSTs\u27 needs, the rehearsal\u27s enactment can look very different (Kazemi et al., 2016). The purpose of this article is to describe three rehearsals, each led by a MTE, that focused on facilitating a whole class discussion and the similarities and differences as well as the affordances and limitations we noticed across the vignettes

Exploring Preservice Elementary Teachers\u27 Reflections Following Facilitation of Mathematics Discussions in Mixed-Reality Simulations

This article investigates preservice elementary teachers\u27 (PSTs\u27) reflections after facilitating mathematics discussions within a mixed-reality simulation (MRS) environment. The study aims to explore the immediate and delayed reflections of PSTs. The findings provide insights into the affordances and constraints of MRSs. PSTs\u27 immediate reflections focused on the themes of preparation, questioning skills, and understanding the content, with delayed reflections indicating positive experiences, including improved content knowledge, and discussion facilitation skills. Findings suggest that with enhanced preparation and additional practice opportunities, integrating MRSs into teacher preparation programs has the potential to improve the mathematical discussion facilitation skills of PSTs

Drawing a Positive Mathematics Identity: Portrait of a Maths Person

In this poster we’ll share a powerful classroom activity we designed that aims to broaden students’ definition of what a maths person looks like. We implemented this activity with Black and Latinx middle school students. We noticed a significant difference in students’ portraits with a simple intervention, exposing students to mathematicians from cultures who have historically been marginalized from maths spaces, specifically Black and Latinx mathematicians. These findings suggest that being introduced to mathematicians of color can help broaden students’ perceptions of who belongs in maths spaces and support students’ development of the confidence and skills they need to succeed in maths class and beyond

Assessing Concepts, Procedures, and Cognitive Demand of ChatGPT-generated Mathematical Tasks

In November 2022, ChatGPT, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) capable of generating human-like responses, was launched. ChatGPT has a variety of promising applications in education, such as using it as thought-partner in generating curricular resources. However, scholars also recognize that the use of ChatGPT raises concerns, such as outputs that are inaccurate, nonsensical, or vague. We, two mathematics teacher educators, engaged in a collaborative self-study using qualitative descriptive approaches to investigate the procedures, concepts, and cognitive demand of ChatGPT-generated mathematical tasks focused on fraction multiplication using the area model approach. We found that the ChatGPT-generated tasks were mostly procedural and not cognitively demanding. Moreover, despite ten variations of input prompts, ChatGPT did not produce any tasks that used the area model approach for fraction multiplication. Rather, it generated tasks focused on procedural approaches. Alarmingly, some tasks were conceptually and/or procedurally inaccurate and vague. We suggest that educators cannot fully rely on ChatGPT to generate cognitively demanding fraction multiplication tasks using the area model. We offer recommendations for educators’ strategic use of ChatGPT to generate cognitively demanding mathematical tasks

Cultivating Critical Statistical Literacy in the Classroom

Learn about an activity and resource from The New York Times that can be used to help learners cultivate critical statistical literacy

Rough Draft Math for Engaged Learning

Mathematics educators often face the challenge of students disliking mathematics or experiencing a negative relationship with the subject. Intentional teaching practices can be a mechanism to mitigate this challenge; thus, preservice and novice teachers would benefit from opportunities to develop such teaching practices. This research explored the potential of rough draft math (RDM) to support teachers in addressing these issues. RDM is a pedagogical approach where students discuss and share their preliminary mathematical ideas without the fear of being wrong. Teachers welcome rough draft thinking, which gives students explicit opportunities to review their work or thinking. This study examined the impact of RDM on preservice and novice secondary mathematics teachers through their written reflections on opportunities to learn about the approach through readings. Findings suggested that the readings can promote preservice and novice teachers\u27 awareness of how RDM can foster a more comfortable and engaging learning environment, highlighting the importance of teachers holding a nonevaluative stance toward students\u27 thinking and teachers\u27 roles in facilitating mathematical discourse

Sorting Out Equity: The Q-Sort Method in Mathematics Education Research

In this research commentary, we review the current utilization of the Q-Sort methodology (QM) in mathematics education and provide an example of how Q-Sort can support a more accurate assessment of PSTs\u27 equity beliefs

The Impact of After-School Math Club on Elementary Student Math Anxiety

Many students experience math anxiety, which can harm mathematics achievement. Taking part in fun, hands-on, inquiry-based math activities has been shown to decrease student anxiety. For four semesters, we ran an after-school mathematics club at Presbyterian Day School in Cleveland, MS for students in grades 3-5. The activities and materials were supplied by Crazy 8s Math Club (a Bedtime Math company). In this manuscript, we share three specific activities that encouraged both student engagement and problem-solving skills. Then we discuss survey results from the Crazy 8s Math Club as they relate to lower student math anxiety

Final Report: Conceptualizing Ethics, Authenticity, and Efficacy of Simulations in Teacher Education

This working group was a continuation of working groups in 2019 and 2021 that initially aimed to focus on equity in simulations of practice in mathematics teacher education. We began by discussing our conceptualizations of simulations and equity. Next, we reflected on the lack of work that currently exists at the intersection of simulations and equity as well as our limited collective expertise in this space. We proposed the following areas of potential research: Access, Design, Affective Domains, Teaching Practices, Assessment, Critical Conversations. Attendees self-selected into focus groups and met to discuss their current work and how future work could focus more on equity and access. At the conclusion of our time together we developed a plan for achieving our key goal of disseminating a book that documents the landscape of the field