The present study examined the extent to which mathematics teachers’ practices reflect visible learning (VL) at their schools and in their technology-enhanced classrooms. A number of determining factors influencing mathematics teachers to practice VL were also investigated. The Visible Learning Scale (VLS) instrument was conceptually developed based on Hattie’s eight mind frames of VL. The survey results from 119 participants indicated that Saudi mathematics teachers expressed a moderate to great level of evidence-based VL practice to enhance and promote students’ learning achievements and progress. The results also showed that the competence level of information and communication technology (ICT) integration is a determining and influential factor that enhances the practices teachers undertake to achieve a better effect on their students’ learning progress. The findings of this study were interpreted in light of the current educational context of mathematics teaching and technology integration in Saudi Arabia’s education system, and their implications for researchers, teacher educators and policymakers were discussed.
In early mathematics education, the beliefs of the teacher are essential for facilitating the integration of technology into teaching mathematics. This study explores the influence of physical and digital interactive learning environments on the development of early childhood teachers’ beliefs about integrating technology into early mathematics classrooms. To understand the development of teachers’ beliefs, a half-year, content-based professional development program that incorporates interactive digital and physical environments was designed for this research on early childhood mathematics teachers (N = 58). We administered a questionnaire to measure teachers’ beliefs regarding employing an interactive technological environment in mathematics classrooms before and after engaging in an intervention program. In addition, a reflective writing strategy was implemented with the participants (N = 10) to understand the development of their beliefs about technology via an evaluation of their levels of reflection. In general, the research findings indicate that an interactive learning environment supports an improvement in teachers’ beliefs about technology. Furthermore, positive qualitative findings were drawn from the reflective writing essays of early childhood teachers. The qualitative findings indicate that an interactive environment enables teachers to be conscious of selecting effective math-specific technologies that facilitate children’s exploration and discovery of mathematics concepts.
30 June 2011 in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
Attending professional development programmes can support teachers in applying new strategies for teaching mathematics and statistics. This study investigated (a) the extent to which the participants in a professional development programme subsequently used the techniques they had learned when teaching mathematics and statistics and (b) the obstacles they encountered in enacting cognitively demanding instructional tasks in their classrooms. The programme created an intellectual learning community among the participants and helped them gain confidence as teachers of statistics, and the students of participating teachers became actively engaged in deep mathematical thinking. The participants indicated, however, that time, availability of resources and students’ prior achievement critically affected the implementation of cognitively demanding instructional activities.
Lesson study provides collaborative platforms for enhancing mathematics teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical skills. Research on the collaborative learning of professional programs is well documented and specifies that it can support mathematics teachers in transferring their pedagogies, knowledge, and attitude about teaching mathematics to improve students’ achievements. This study examined the role of lesson study projects in developing collaborative inquiry skills among high school mathematics teachers in Saudi Arabia, as well as the impact of lesson study projects on students’ mathematical learning. This study implemented a scale with certain design features to evaluate the level of collaborative inquiry skills of two groups of high school teachers: Those who attend lesson study projects and those who never do. The study analysis uncovered that high school mathematics teachers who engage in lesson study professional development projects demonstrate higher collaborative inquiry skills than those who never engage in such professional development experiences. A significant finding of this study determined that lesson study experience had a positive impact on the improvement of students’ mathematics learning.
31 March 2017 in Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER)
During the past decades, technological resources have been improved to support the teaching of mathematics. While the improvement of technological resources, the World Wide Web provides teachers and students many resources that engage students in rich mathematics experiences. There are a vast number of educational resources available through the Internet for students and teachers, which should be implemented in the classroom to support and improve algebra instructions. This study seeks to identify the extent of the middle school teacher’s awareness of using the Internet to teach and develop students’ learning of algebra. The participant’s teachers in this study are teaching in schools located in a rural Appalachian region of a Midwestern state in the United States. The study found that the Internet’s function in the algebra classroom within this particular group of middle childhood teachers are used for purposes that do not contribute to algebra instruction.