Exploring Teacher Noticing of Student Algebraic Thinking

• In Event: 30.067 - New Perspectives on Teacher Noticing in Mathematics Education

Abstract

This paper explores preservice mathematics teacher noticing in the domain of algebra. Teacher noticing has been widely examined over the past decade (e.g., Sherin, Jacobs, & Philipp, 2011). One model of professional development aimed at developing teacher noticing is the video club (van Es & Sherin, 2010). Video club professional development allows participants to explore classroom practices by watching and discussing a video clip. However, for the most part work with video clubs has not explored teacher noticing in particular mathematics domains such as algebra, geometry or statistics (Author, Date). There is reason to believe that teacher noticing might develop differently in distinct mathematical domains. This paper explores teacher noticing in a video club focused on students’ algebraic thinking. A framework for noticing algebraic thinking is introduced and ways participants take up the framework to structure their noticing of student thinking is discussed. In addition, a new tagging tool for exploring teacher attention is introduced as a way document changes in noticing over an eight-week period.
Thirteen pre-service mathematics teachers in a large Midwestern city participated in the study. All thirteen teachers were asked to complete a pre and post task as well as six weekly tagging assignments using an online tagging tool that prompted teachers to watch a video and tag and discuss compelling moments of students’ algebraic thinking. However, seven of the thirteen were asked to participate in a video club that focused on algebra classes. I analyzed the moments the teachers tagged using the tool and what they wrote about those moments. Grounded coding of the teachers’ commentaries, followed by quantitative analysis of changes in depth of various types of categories, enabled me to explore differences in noticing of algebraic thinking among members of the video club group and non-video club group. When compared, the video club group showed more change over time in the type of algebraic thinking they noticed and the depth with which they discussed student thinking. Particular domains of algebraic thinking elicited more change (e.g., symbol manipulation) an others (e.g., reasoning about representations).
This study demonstrates how we can track changes in noticing of student thinking in a particular domain, using a tagging tool. In addition, the study illustrates how the domain (even the sub domain- algebra) matters when exploring teacher noticing.

Author

• Janet Dawn Kim Walkoe, University of Maryland