"Using the Performance Assessment of California Teachers to Examine Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching Mathematics for Understanding"
Assistant Professor Elizabeth van Es and Director of Teacher Education and Student Affairs Dr. Judi Conroy have co-published an article in Issues in Teacher Education: "Using the Performance Assessment of California Teachers to Examine Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching Mathematics for Understanding."
van Es, E.D. & Conroy, J. (2009). Using the performance assessment of California teachers to examine pre-service teachers' conceptions of teaching mathematics for understanding. Issues in Teacher Education, 18(1), 83-102.
Abstract
An important goal of pre-service teacher education is to prepare future mathematics teachers to teach for understanding. This is a challenge because they often lack the mathematical understanding and corresponding beliefs to teach for proficiency (National Research Council, 2001), and they have had few, if any, opportunities to participate in classrooms that promote learning mathematics for understanding (Zeichner & Liston, 1987). This study uses the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) to examine the particular ways pre-service teachers understand this vision of mathematics teaching, as well as what counts as evidence of teaching for understanding in practice. Drawing on case study methods, we examined four multiple subject pre-service teachers' PACT materials, including both their written documents and video of teaching, to investigate similarities and differences in their conceptions of mathematics instruction. Results show that the candidates varied in their understanding of the use of mathematical tools, the roles of students and teachers in the learning setting, and their approaches to analysis and reflection on teaching. They are similar, however, in their discourse for talking about mathematics teaching and learning and their approaches to the enactment of mathematics instruction. Identifying these similarities and differences provides a window into the particulars of pre-service teachers' understanding of mathematics teaching and learning and has implications for thedesign of teacher education programs that promote learning to teach mathematics for understanding.
