Promoting Preservice Teachers' Mathematical Reasoning With Quality Talk

• In Event: Teachers, Power, and Equity in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Mathematical reasoning is fundamental to academic development and STEM problem-solving. Discourse-intensive pedagogies have been shown to promote students’ reasoning, but many teachers lack support for implementing these in the classroom. One solution is to integrate discussion-rich pedagogies into elementary teacher education programs. We examined video recordings of discussions that occurred in an elementary mathematics teaching methods course for indicators that demonstrate the development of teacher educators’ (TEs’) and preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) discourse-intensive pedagogies and mathematical reasoning and problem-solving. Results show that TEs released control of the discussion to PSTs, but could have benefitted from additional professional development aimed at facilitating PSTs’ mathematics-rich discourse. PSTs asked more questions over time and enacted more individual argumentative responses with emergent mathematical reasoning.

Authors

• P. Karen Murphy, The Pennsylvania State University

• Gwendolyn Lloyd, The Pennsylvania State University

• Rachel Miriam Vriend Croninger, The Pennsylvania State University

• Sara Elizabeth Baszczewski, The Pennsylvania State University

• Rachel Wolkenhauer, The Pennsylvania State University

• Amy Voss Farris, The Pennsylvania State University