What else is important besides the teacher? The case of a Hong Kong Mathematics classroom

Session: 24 SES 14: Student Voice: Talking in and out of the mathematics classroomA major contribution to the outstanding mathematics achievement outcomes in Hong Kong classrooms is how the mathematics lessons are taught and how the lessons are received. In this paper, I carried out analysis of the data of one Hong Kong teacher taken from the Learner’s Perspective Study. The teacher was a very experienced teacher, recognized as a very good and competent teacher locally. A sequence of 18 consecutive lessons has been recorded. Analysis of the students’ interviews and the teacher’s interviews was carried out to find the pedagogical philosophy of the teacher and how the students received their mathematics lessons. Results show that the teacher took up a strong leading and guiding role in the lesson. Nearly all students liked the teacher and their mathematics lessons. In the interviews, the students showed their appreciation of how the teacher taught. They liked the demonstration and experiences of alternative methods for a problem and thought that knowing the steps for solving the problem helped their understanding. They respected both the teacher’s authority in the classroom and the help from classmates. They learnt from the teacher’s correction of students’ mistakes and appreciated the discussion of mistakes.postprintThe 2011 European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2011), Berlin, Germany, 13-16 September 2011

A glimpse of a mathematical enculturator in Chinese mathematics classrooms: an example from a Shanghai lesson

This journal supplement has title: The 11th International Congress on Mathematical Education Topic Study Group 24: Research on classroom practice. Selected papersTopic Study Group 24: Research on classroom practice (TSG24)This paper has two aims. Firstly, it gives a brief summary of selected accounts of Chinese mathematics classroom teaching based on ongoing analysis of the Learner’s Perspective Study. Secondly, it aims to present a description of an event of a Shanghai mathematics lesson to show how the teacher plays a role as a mathematics ‘enculturator’ who plays an asymmetrical influential role in the shaping process. The theoretical point of departure is that classroom practice is a process of ‘mathematical enculturation’. The process is a dynamic, intentional, shaping process which refers to what happens between the teacher and students within an institutionalised setting.postprintThe 11th International Conference on Mathematics Education (ICME-11), Monterrey, México, 6-13 July 2008. In Quaderni di Ricerca in Didattica, 2009, 19, suppl.

Representations in Mathematics Textbooks, Learning and Teaching: Multiple perspectives.

Held by Textbooks of the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), in partnership with the Center for Advanced Research in Education (CIAE) and the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Mathematics (FCFM)postprin

Research On Mathematics Classroom Practice: An International Perspective

Research on Mathematics Classroom Practice encompasses very comprehensive themes and issues that may include any studies and scientific experiments happening inside the classroom, including consideration of the key agents in the classroom (the teachers and the students), undertaken with diversified research objectives and theoretical backgrounds. To a certain extent, seeking an international perspective provides some delineation of the topic. Studies will then focus on those issues already prioritised as of interest by existing international comparative studies and those issues seen as significant within an educational system. This lecture will draw upon the work of an international project, the Learner’s Perspective Study (LPS), an international collaboration of 16 countries with the aim of examining in an integrated and comprehensive fashion the patterns of participation in competently taught eighth grade mathematics classrooms.postprin

A story of his own lesson: an example from Hong Kong

Conference Theme: Responsible Teaching and Sustainable LearningSymposium: Studying Teaching Competence in Mathematics Classrooms Cross-nationallyThe paper describes the practical realisation of competence in the classroom of an 8th grade Hong Kong mathematics teacher. The teacher was selected as competent on the recommendation of local researchers. Video of 18 consecutive lessons, three post-lesson teacher interviews, and thirty-six post-lesson student interviews provided a platform for understanding the teacher’s teaching philosophy in practice. Mr. X was a teacher with more than twenty years of experience in both primary and secondary mathematics teaching. He was active in teaching, curriculum development and research acti…postprin

How technology use is being reflected in junior secondary mathematics textbooks in Hong Kong

The use of digital technologies has been proposed as one of the five basic principles of curriculum design in the curriculum document for the secondary mathematics curriculum (CDI, 1998). Since then, the Hong Kong curriculum has undergone continual reforms of different scales, e.g., “Learning to learn” (EDB, 2001), “The future is now: From vision to realisation” (EDB, 2009), and the use of digital technologies in mathematics teaching has been promoted. Textbook is recognized as the potentially implemented curriculum (Johansson, 2005). To what extent has the technology been used and reflected in the junior mathematic textbooks in Hong Kong? A popular textbook series is analysed. Results are categorized into use of calculators, use of computer software and use of supplementary resources. The use of technology varies according to the topics in the different strands, namely, algebra, geometry and data handlingpostprin

The metamorphosis of the 'virtuoso': Pedagogic patterns in Hong Kong primary mathematics classrooms

Classrooms in the East Asian region are primarily portrayed as teacher-centred, with a tense atmosphere stressing mechanical or rote learning. Using data derived from a project that evaluated the impact of a major curriculum reform in Hong Kong, this paper argues that these descriptions fail to capture many salient features of pedagogy. A total of 122 Primary One mathematics lessons were observed in twelve schools over a three-year period from 1995 to 1998. Analysis indicated that although whole-class instruction was still the dominant mode of pedagogy, the role of the teacher as a virtuoso performing to a whole class was being modified. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.postprin

Students’ class works: an example in Hong Kong 8th grade mathematics classroom

Topic Study Group 21 - Research on classroom practiceThe student’s class work of an 8th grade mathematics classroom in Hong Kong has been studied. The data were obtained from the Learning Perspective Study (LPS). Five consecutive lessons for the topic of “solving simultaneous equation by the graphical method and the method of substitution” were analyzed. The tasks in the lessons were differentiated as the teacher’s examples and the student’s class work. The cognitive domains of the student’s class work were further classified. All the tasks were classified as either knowing or applying, and no reasoning domain was identified. Results showed that most of students imitated the teacher’s examples completely or partly. Only two of the tasks showed modification of teacher’s method and one task solved by student’s own method. Finally, we argue that the strong direct role of teacher might help the students master their mathematical content in a relatively short time but may have the danger of limiting the students’ opportunity for independent thinking.postprin

Lessons from a Small-scale Observational Study - An Example of the Teaching of Fractions

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate what a small-scale project can tell about features of teaching and learning in two different cultures. We argue that some features, which may not be easily observed within one culture, can become more visible in the contrast in order to get a better understanding of the teaching practice per se, even from a small scale project. We have studied the mathematics teaching in one classroom in Hong Kong and four in Sweden. Based on the assumption, that how the content is taught has an important implication on what students may possibly learn, we compared how the teaching of the same topic (fraction) may differ between the two places. Some profound differences regarding how the same topic was dealt with in the two countries were found. In the Hong Kong data several things were handled in one lesson at the same time whereas in the Swedish data this happened in a sequence of lessons spreading over a substantial period.published_or_final_versio

Insights From Students' Private Work In Their Notebooks: How Do Students Learn From The Teacher's Examples?

Students’ seatwork plays an important part in their learning in their lessons, and very often, students record their private work in the notebooks during seatwork. The students’ private work in their notebooks reflects students’ learning and thinking, representing explicit learning outcomes. The students’ private work in their notebooks of 14 mathematics lessons of an eighth-grade Hong Kong classroom was analyzed. The mathematical tasks used in the lessons were categorized with the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) cognitive domains framework. The implementation of the tasks was recorded in cycles of teacher’s examples (TEs) and students’ exercises (SEs). By comparing the methods employed by the students and the teacher, the students’ methods were found to be mainly imitation or partial imitation regardless of the cognitive domains of the students’ exercises. The students’ perspectives on the instructional practice expressed in the post-lesson interviews were used as a triangulation for the results. The results showed that the students appreciated the teacher’s explanation and demonstration in the teacher’s exposition. Finally, the authors argue that the high percentages of imitation of teacher’s methods not only are due to the students’ choice, but also are influenced by the Confucian heritage cultures.postprin