Classroom Artifacts: Testing a Framework for Analyzing Quality Task Design in Mathematics

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 7:45am
  In Poster Session: Professional Learning and Instruction in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Classroom artifacts provide a tangible record of what students are asked to do and offer a valuable lens to examine how instruction is designed and sequenced over time. Using a three-dimensional framework and a longitudinal perspective, we analyzed 109 classroom artifacts collected during the implementation of entire mathematics units on fractions. We asked: As a set, how do artifacts reflect a learning trajectory of big ideas in fractions? What characteristics support the development of transferable mathematical knowledge? Do they make student thinking visible in ways that support formative assessment? We provide information about the focus of the artifacts across lessons, considering a learning trajectory, their characteristics to support conditional knowledge and transfer, and their effectiveness in making students’ thinking explicit.

Authors

• Micaela Maria Bonilla, Stanford University

• Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo, Stanford University