Teachers' Adaption of a Problem-Based Lesson During Lesson Study

• In Event: Problem-Based Education SIG Full Paper Session: Teachers and Problem-Based Education

Abstract

We investigate the effects of a combined professional development model on teachers’ implementation of problem-based instruction. Four geometry teachers engaged in a Lesson Study cycle to plan and teach a problem-based lesson. We ask, what changes to the lesson did teachers offer and what were the teachers’ justifications of those changes? Using the Toulmin model, we analyzed the teachers’ claims about lesson revisions. Findings show that the discussions of video-clips of students solving the problem and of animated vignettes illustrating examples of implementations of the lesson affected the adaptations. Specifically, the teachers changed the diagram and the launch of the problem to increase students’ learning opportunities. The findings have implications for the implementation of problem-based instruction through Lesson Study.

Authors

• Lisa Skultety, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Gloriana Gonzalez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Gabriela Elizabeth Vargas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign