THE MATHEMATICS EDUCATOR

Using Bafa Bafa to help pre-service teachers experience microaggressions in the classroom

Rebecca Anne Dibbs — 2023-10-04

Implementing an equity agenda in the classroom is both necessary and challenging for classes containing pre-service teachers. For this intervention, we chose to begin our History of Mathematics course for pre-service middle school teachers with a cultural simulation training exercise: Bafa Bafa. After participating in the exercise, pre-service teachers were asked to write a reflection paper and were later interviewed about their experiences in the course. Although participants found Bafa Bafa an uncomfortable experience, it was not an unsafe one, and the pre-service teachers agreed that this exercise helped them better understand, articulate, and notice experiences with microaggressions.

Young Students Exploring Measurement Through Problem Solving and Problem Posing

Hanna Palmér — 2023-10-04

The empirical data in this study are from a series of two lessons on measurement implemented in seven classes with 119 six-year-old students in Sweden. Both problem solving and problem posing were shown to be important in early mathematics when students in this study worked on one problem-solving task and one problem-posing task on measurement. As there are few studies specifically on problem posing in early mathematics and on young children’s understanding of measurement, this study adds knowledge of value for both teachers and researchers. In the study, paper-and-pen work from the students was analysed together with interviews conducted after the students had worked on the two tasks. When solving the task on measurement, the students discerned shape, size, distance, and number as mathematical aspects of measurement. When asked to pose a similar task, only size and number reoccurred as mathematical aspects of measurement. However, other features from the problem-solving task reoccurred in the posed tasks: similar drawings were used in combination with questions on measurement as the mathematical content.

Contemporary, emergent mathematics for teachers

Armando Paulino Preciado Babb — 2023-07-28

In this paper, we present a qualitative case study on an online graduate program for practicing teachers and educators that explores contemporary mathematics and its integration into K to 12 education. Data for the study comprised students’ work in the courses, student feedback, and notes from instructor debriefings for two cohorts of the course. The findings are organized in terms of (i) specialized knowledge for teaching mathematics, (ii) online mathematics teacher education, (iii) online professional learning communities, and (iv) online teaching in general. We conclude the paper with suggestions for online mathematics teacher education and the identification of venues for future research.

Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Opportunities to Learn Reasoning and Proof in Algebra

Jia He — 2023-07-27

This study examined opportunities provided for preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) to learn reasoning and proof in algebra from the perspective of college instructors. We analyzed interview transcripts of 15 course instructors recruited from three teacher education programs in the United States. We examined the reported opportunities provided for PSMTs to engage in proving- related activities, including making conjectures, investigating conjectures, developing arguments, evaluating arguments, and disproving by using counterexamples. We also analyzed instructional strategies reported by the instructors. We found the inconsistency between instructors’ perceptions of the importance of reasoning and proof in algebra and instructor-reported opportunities to learn. Findings also indicated that developing arguments was reported the most frequently. In addition, instructors reported more pedagogy- focused general teaching strategies than proof-specific teaching strategies.

What Makes Pedagogical Content Knowledge “Pedagogical”? Reconnecting PCK to Its Deweyan Foundations

Michael Tallman — 2023-07-27

In this theoretical paper, I review the history of research in educational psychology that inspired Shulman’s notion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and critically examine interpretations of PCK reflected in prominent theoretical frameworks for mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). I propose a theory of PCK—grounded in radical constructivism, Piaget’s genetic epistemology, and empirical research results—that addresses limitations of these prominent frameworks. I conclude with a description of what makes PCK in the proposed theory “pedagogical” and describe a research agenda that reconnects MKT scholarship to its Deweyan philosophical foundations.

Rebuilding Readers’ Relationships with Mathematics: A Review of The Psychology of Mathematics: A Journey of Personal Mathematical Empowerment for Educators and Curious Minds

Amanda Jansen — 2023-07-27

Front Matter

Aida Alibek & Dru Horne TME Editors — 2023-07-27

A Note to Reviewers

Aida Alibek & Dru Horne TME Editors — 2023-07-27