Chapter 1 The International Classroom Lexicon Project

The International Classroom Lexicon Project set out to document the professional vocabulary of middle-school mathematics teachers in ten communities from around the world. The construction of a national lexicon, which can be thought of as the characterisation of a very specific aspect of the culture of each participating country, was undertaken by research teams involving experienced teachers as genuine co-researchers. Each cultural artefact identified the words by which teachers name the classroom phenomena in their respective environment. These are the terms that are used for seeing, describing, and communicating about the world that is the middle-school mathematics classroom

Chapter 1 The International Classroom Lexicon Project

The International Classroom Lexicon Project set out to document the professional vocabulary of middle-school mathematics teachers in ten communities from around the world. The construction of a national lexicon, which can be thought of as the characterisation of a very specific aspect of the culture of each participating country, was undertaken by research teams involving experienced teachers as genuine co-researchers. Each cultural artefact identified the words by which teachers name the classroom phenomena in their respective environment. These are the terms that are used for seeing, describing, and communicating about the world that is the middle-school mathematics classroom

An investigation of the effects of a graphics calculator based approach on the learning and teaching of year 8 equation solving

Master of EducationIn the middle years of schooling, the topic of equation solving generally begins teaching students how to find solutions to linear equations using traditional by-hand techniques. This is a student's first formal introduction to algebraic equation solving and many master the techniques involved, however, few students acquire a conceptual understanding of the notion of a solution or the solution process. A graphics calculator is capable of plotting a function, generating a table of values and testing whether a number is a solution to an equation, all in a matter of moments. They are currently used in VCE mathematical studies and examinations. The aim of this investigation is to study the effects of a graphics calculator based approach on the learning and teaching of equation solving. This approach involved constant access, by an experimental group, to a TI-83 graphics calculator. A graphics calculator based approach to equation solving may assist students in developing a better understanding of the key concepts and solving techniques, and the application of these to the solution of problems. Constant access to graphics calculators in the classroom may allow students who lack pen-and-paper techniques the opportunity to reason mathematically about problems and mathematical ideas. To accomplish this aim a classroom-based study was conducted in a Melbourne metropolitan school. An experimental-control design was used with the four year eight classes of two teachers. Each teacher taught a control and experimental (graphics calculator) class. The study examined the achievement of the two treatment groups with pre and post-tests. Test performances of all students were compared and analysed to determine the benefits from the various instructional techniques. It was found that there were no significant differences between treatment groups and the only significant difference was between the teachers of the study. It was also found that low ability students, from the graphics calculator environment, made the largest gains. Although no statistical differences were found, students in the experimental group were more successful with questions involving graphs and tables while the students in the control group were better at solving equations by hand

How does the professional vocabulary change when pre-service teachers learn to analyse classroom situations?

International audienceWe conducted a university course with pre-service teachers specifically focused on learning to analyse the use of multiple representations in classroom situations. We were particularly interested in the professional vocabulary pre-service teachers used when they analysed these classroom situations. Before and after the course, we collected 136 written analyses from 17 pre-service teachers who were asked to evaluate the use of multiple representations in four classroom situations. Our findings indicate that the pre-service teachers’ professional vocabulary improved with respect to breadth and specificity. They also used more terms related to essential aspects of theory on multiple representations. As teachers’ increased and appropriate use of professional vocabulary appears to play a role with regard to their competence in analysing classroom situations, further research into this topic is encouraged and might give insight into corresponding competence development

How does the professional vocabulary change when pre-service teachers learn to analyse classroom situations?

International audienceWe conducted a university course with pre-service teachers specifically focused on learning to analyse the use of multiple representations in classroom situations. We were particularly interested in the professional vocabulary pre-service teachers used when they analysed these classroom situations. Before and after the course, we collected 136 written analyses from 17 pre-service teachers who were asked to evaluate the use of multiple representations in four classroom situations. Our findings indicate that the pre-service teachers’ professional vocabulary improved with respect to breadth and specificity. They also used more terms related to essential aspects of theory on multiple representations. As teachers’ increased and appropriate use of professional vocabulary appears to play a role with regard to their competence in analysing classroom situations, further research into this topic is encouraged and might give insight into corresponding competence development

The lexicon project: Examining the consequences for international comparative research of pedagogical naming systems from different cultures

International audienceUse of English as the international language of educational research can mask the nuanced meanings of constructs that researchers working in languages other than English originally employed in framing their practice and their theories. Cross-cultural comparisons are framed in terms of constructs expressed in the language of publication, usually English. Attention has been drawn to the significance of the resulting validity-comparability compromise (Clarke, 2013). The Lexicon Project investigates the pedagogical naming systems used by educators in nine countries (eight languages). Drawing on examples from the Australian, Chinese and Czech lexicons, this paper outlines the project's research design and addresses the implications of distinctive lexical features for comparative classroom research between communities employing different lexicons to describe the phenomena of middle school mathematics classrooms

Towards an international lexicon

International audienceAbstract A significant distinguishing characteristic of the International Classroom Lexicon Project was the documentation of classroom pedagogical practices of mathematics teachers in the original languages of ten communities. These lexicons provide us with an opportunity to compare identified teacher practices within these communities. In this paper, we explore the challenges of conducting a cross-lexicon comparison to explore the possibility of moving towards an international lexicon by focusing on the Australian, Chilean, Czech and French lexicons. We focus on two clusters of terms, namely, those related to assessment and those related to mathematics. Inspired by theories and studies related to networking and boundary crossing, strategies were conceived and tested in order to accomplish the following objectives: to support a meticulous and comprehensive comparison of the lexical items; to classify the complexity of similarity of lexical items; and to reveal connections amongst the four lexicons in a bid towards developing an international lexicon. This analysis has the potential to contribute significantly to the study and promotion of mathematics teachers’ reflective practice and highlights the cultural underpinning of the way classroom practices are perceived