Interpreting and Representing Students' Thinking in the Moment: Preservice Teachers' Initial Subtraction Lessons

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Students' Thinking in Math Classrooms

Abstract

Being able to effectively interpret students’ thinking and respond spontaneously are important skills that preservice teachers (PSTs) need to learn. This study zooms in on six PSTs’ planning, teaching, and reflections involved in subtraction lessons, and investigates to what extent PSTs anticipate their students’ strategies and incorrect answers. Through a lens focused on PSTs’ discursive moves, we explore how PSTs supported students’ understanding of the strategies and concepts, and handled incorrect answers and unanticipated responses. Results show that PSTs anticipated many answers and strategies but need more improvement in making full use of various discursive moves in their questioning, especially in episodes dealing with wrong answers. Implications are provided for mathematics methods instructors to plan activities to better support PSTs.

Authors

• Lizhen Chen, Purdue University

• Laura Bofferding, Purdue University