Theorizing in Design Research: Methodological reflections on developing and connecting theory elements for language-responsive mathematics classrooms

Topic-specific Didactical Design Research is a research methodology with two aims, 1) designing and improving teaching-learning arrangements and 2) generating theoretical contributions for understanding the initiated teaching-learning processes for a certain topic. The article provides methodological reflections and examples for elaborating the meaning of theorizing within this methodology. Starting from a distinction of categorial, descriptive, explanatory, normative and predictive theory elements with their functions and logical structures, the examples show that theorizing in Design Research studies can be conceived as a process of successively developing and connecting theory elements, for the how-questions (the rationales for the arrangements) and the what-questions (the structuring of the learning content). The considerations are illustrated for the case of topic specific Didactical Design Research for language-responsive classrooms, particularly in relation to language learners’ conceptual understanding of fractions, variables, and percentages

Low entrance or reaching the goals? Mathematics teachers’ categories for differentiating with open-ended tasks in inclusive classrooms

International audienceOpen-ended inquiry tasks are considered a powerful approach for addressing the diversity of inclusive mathematics classrooms due to their potential for natural differentiation. However, this potential can only unfold when the teachers know how to work with the tasks. This article investigates teachers’ personal categories for differentiating with an open-ended task, especially with respect to providing support for students with special needs. In a qualitative case study, a category-eliciting activity was conducted within a professional development session. Data gathering comprised 14 secondary mathematics teachers’ and special needs teachers’ video-taped group discussions and written answers, which were analyzed qualitatively. The results show that most teachers’ ideas for support provided for the students with mathematical learning disabilities only addressed the low entrance, but not the core learning goals and the required basic conceptual knowledge

Expertise für Fachunterricht an Schulen in besonderen Lagen. Fachdidaktische Perspektiven

Schulen in besonderen Lagen können mit qualitätsvollem Fachunterricht maßgeblich dazu beitragen, allen Lernenden – ungeachtet ihrer sozialen Herkunft – zum Bildungserfolg zu verhelfen. Allerdings gelingt der Ausgleich herkunftsbedingter Nachteile im deutschen Schulsystem empirisch nachweislich schlechter als in anderen Ländern mit vergleichbarer Sozialstruktur (OECD, 2016). Daher ist aus fachdidaktischer Perspektive zu fragen, welche Expertise Fachlehrkräfte benötigen, um herkunftsbedingte Nachteile nicht zu verstärken, sondern zu überwinden. Am Beispiel des Fachs Mathematik werden dazu einige Befunde vorgestellt und jeweils kurz die Konsequenzen für Aus- und Fortbildung skizziert. (DIPF/Orig.

Towards a research base for implementation strategies addressing mathematics teachers and facilitators

Implementing innovations in mathematics education relies on scaling up professional development (PD) for mathematics teachers. Within the German Center of Mathematics Teacher Education (DZLM), the complexities involved in scaling-up processes are addressed with three implementation strategies: a material, a personnel, and a systemic strategy. For each of them, the research base is empirically established by design research and intervention studies. The personnel strategy focuses on preparing teachers for innovative teaching approaches and on preparing PD facilitators for conducting PDs on the content involved. The empirical research required for creating a research base for the personnel strategy investigates what teachers and facilitators need to know about their learners (students on the classroom level, teachers on the PD level) with regard to a specific (PD) content. The main focus of the material strategy is to provide support for teachers and facilitators by adaptable curriculum materials for classrooms and PD sessions. The empirical research on the material strategies focuses on how such material needs to be constructed to ensure both flexibility and fidelity for impactful quality implementation. The systemic strategy involves considering the systemic contexts on each level and cooperating with the respective stakeholders (e.g., school principals or regional PD authorities). The corresponding empirical research focuses on the interplay of processes and systemic conditions. In this paper, we present the implementation strategies on different levels, and typical research approaches and results for strengthening their empirical and theoretical bases.Projekt DEALPeer Reviewe

Conceptualizing content-related PD facilitator expertise

Studies of facilitators of professional development (PD) for mathematics teachers have been increasing in order to improve their preparation for conducting PD. However, specifications of what facilitators should learn often lack a conceptualization that captures facilitators’ expertise for different PD content. In this article, we provide a framework for facilitator expertise that is in line with current conceptualizations but makes explicit the content-related aspects of such expertise. The framework for content-related facilitator expertise combines cognitive and situated perspectives and allows unpacking different components at the PD level and the classroom level. Using two illustrative cases of different PD content (probability education in primary school and language-responsive mathematics teaching in secondary school), we exemplify how the framework can help to analyze facilitators’ practices in content-related ways in a descriptive mode. This analysis reveals valuable insights that support designers of facilitator preparation programs to specify what facilitators should learn in a prescriptive mode. We particularly emphasize the importance of working on content-related aspects, unpacking the PD content goals into the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge elements on the classroom level and developing facilitators’ pedagogical content knowledge on the PD level (PCK-PD), which includes curricular knowledge, as well as knowledge about teachers’ typical thinking about a specific PD content. Situated learning opportunities in facilitator preparation programs can support facilitators to activate these knowledge elements for managing typical situational demands in PD.German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001736Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659Deutsche Telekom Stiftung http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002990IPN – Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik an der Universität Kiel (3469)Peer Reviewe