Adapting Lesson Study for Community College Mathematics Instruction

• In Event: Implementing Lesson Study for Professional Development in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper reports on early findings from a study focused on the implementation of Lesson Study in the community college context. Study participants are full-time and part-time faculty teaching developmental (i.e., remedial) mathematics, and more specifically, a pre-college quantitative reasoning course that is a new alternate mathematics pathway for non-STEM majors. During this session, presenters will describe how faculty participants have experienced an adapted LS model, how faculty describe changes to their teaching practice as a result of their participation, and considerations for implementing LS among community college math faculty.

Increasingly researchers have called for instructional improvement in developmental mathematics in order to improve student learning, retention and success (Richland, Stigler, & Holyoak, 2012; Stigler, Givvin, and Thompson; 2011). However, few developmental mathematics reforms explicitly attend to student learning through improved pedagogy; instead, most restructure coursework, redesign curricula, or enhance student supports (Edgecombe et al., 2013).

In this project, faculty participants have been supported by trained facilitators to adapt and implement the model of LS described in Leading Lesson Study A Practical Guide for Teachers and Facilitators (Stepanek, et al, 2007). Over the course of the full project, they will participate in four LS cycles (this presentation draws on data collected during the first three). Each cycle includes four stages: study and plan the lesson; teach and observe the lesson; debrief and revise lesson; and reteach, reflect and report on the results of the new lesson.

Data sources for this paper include approximately 100 hours of observations of LS activities at the three colleges as well as 34 interviews with stakeholders including LS math faculty participants, college administrators, faculty who chose not to participate in the project, and facilitators. In addition, researchers conducted a survey of 111 part-time and full-time math faculty at the three colleges; survey items focused on professional development needs and opportunities, professional community within the department, and beliefs about math teaching and math learners.

Based on preliminary analysis of these data, in this brief proposal we present one of several findings with implications for the sustainability and effectiveness of LS in higher education. We identify the importance of and challenges related to developing a collaborative lesson study team in higher education. LS asks faculty to engage in something fundamentally different than typical ways of collaborating in higher education. The teams undertake the development of a highly detailed, collectively authored lesson plan. This work is time-intensive, and the benefits of spending this much time on a single lesson may not be immediately clear. Team members must also trust their colleagues and value their contributions. While it is not uncommon for teams of full-time faculty to work together on the selection of textbooks, exam creation, and even course or program-level assessment of student learning, faculty typically do not collaborate on the specifics of instructional delivery or engage in classroom observation for non-evaluative purposes. Drawing on observational and interview data we provide specific facilitation features that appear to help overcome these challenges and build a team’s collective efficacy.

Authors

• Susan Bickerstaff, Community College Research Center

• Diana Elizabeth Cruz, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Melinda Leong, Education Northwest