Teaching Teachers: Developing Faculty Expertise in Supporting Preservice Elementary Teachers' Development of Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching

University Of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to: develop a collection of videocases and other teaching and learning materials to be used in professional development workshops for mathematics faculty who are responsible for teaching preservice elementary teachers (PSTs); evaluate the impact of these materials on both faculty participants and their students; enable mathematics faculty, who teach content courses for PSTs, to develop expertise in supporting PSTs' development of mathematics knowledge needed for teaching; and articulate the nature of specialized content knowledge mathematics teacher educators need to support PSTs' development of mathematics knowledge required for teaching. Preservice mathematics coursework often fails to adequately prepare PSTs for the work of teaching. The coursework frequently focuses on the learning of content giving limited attention to how such knowledge is used in teaching practice, while providing relatively few experiences in applying PSTs' knowledge to analyze solution strategies or appraise mathematical explanations. In addition, mathematics faculty who teach content need to understand how to create opportunities for PSTs to learn mathematics in ways needed for teaching, a view of teaching and learning with which they are often unfamiliar.