Novice facilitators’ changes in practices: From launching to managing discussions about mathematics teaching

Novice facilitators of professional development (PD) programs for mathematics teachers often face challenges in leading productive discussions and achieving the goals of these programs. Although research in this area is gradually accumulating, not much is known about how novice facilitators address these challenges and change their practices accordingly. This paper presents case studies of two novice facilitators of PD programs in two different countries. The analyses look at their work over one year, to illustrate the changes in their practices while managing discussions. The results show that although the facilitators operated in different contexts, their practices and their processes of change resembled, suggesting that these processes are not idiosyncratic. We argue that novice facilitators’ changes in practices correspond to changes in their resources, orientations, goals, and identities and that PD program teams can support these changes.     

高等师范学校物理专业课程结构改革研究

为解决高等师范院校物理专业学生的知识结构和实际能力与社会需要明显不相适应的矛盾，我们对四年制物理专业的课程结构进行了全面改革。改革后，毕业生不仅能胜任普通中学或职业中学（职业中专）的教学，而且有能力参与厂矿企业的技术工作，具有更广泛的适应性和更强的竞争力。     

隶属度转换算法在高职院校“双师型”教师实训教学绩效评价中的应用

结合高职院校"双师型"教师实训教学的关键行动,构建了高职院校"双师型"教师实训教学绩效评价的指标体系,并结合实例将隶属度转换算法应用于具体的"双师型"教师实训教学绩效评价之中.     

带定价决策的供应商管理库存合同设计

高校教师绩效工资管理系统的设计得益于管理科学与信息技术的有机结合,并基于高校教师的职业与人事管理特征有效实现管理自动化、信息透明化、公平效率化的设计初衷。系统通过几个主要功能模块的分工与流程,结合系统的参数设置与运算,可以自动生成教师的绩效津贴。从而实现高校有限资源的优化配置与绩效工资的合理分配,在激励教职员工爱岗敬业、自我实现的同时,实现教师个人与高校优势互补、和谐共进的多赢局面。     

Attention to meaning by algebra teachers

Non-attendance to meaning by students is a prevalent phenomenon in school mathematics. Our goal is to investigate features of instruction that might account for this phenomenon. Drawing on a case study of two high school algebra teachers, we cite episodes from the classroom to illustrate particular teaching actions that de-emphasize meaning. We categorize these actions as pertaining to (a) purpose of new concepts, (b) distinctions in mathematics, (c) mathematical terminology, and (d) mathematical symbols. The specificity of the actions that we identify allows us to suggest several conjectures as to the impact of the teaching practices observed on student learning: that students will develop the belief that mathematics involves executing standard procedures much more than meaning and reasoning, that students will come to see mathematical definitions and results as coincidental or arbitrary, and that students’ treatment of symbols will be largely non-referential.     

An evolving framework for describing student engagement in classroom activities

Student engagement in classroom activities is usually described as a function of factors such as human needs, affect, intention, motivation, interests, identity, and others. We take a different approach and develop a framework that models classroom engagement as a function of students’ conceptual competence in the specific content (e.g., the mathematics of motion) of an activity. The framework uses a spatial metaphor—i.e., the classroom activity as a territory through which students move—as a way to both capture common engagement-related dynamics and as a communicative device. In this formulation, then, students’ engaged participation can be understood in terms of the nature of the “regions” and overall “topography” of the activity territory, and how much student movement such a territory affords. We offer the framework not in competition with other instructional design approaches, but rather as an additional tool to aid in the analysis and conduct of engaging classroom activities.     

Enhancing Formative Assessment Practice and Encouraging Middle School Mathematics Engagement and Persistence

In the transition to middle school, and during the middle school years, students' motivation for mathematics tends to decline from what it was during elementary school. Formative assessment strategies in mathematics can help support motivation by building confidence for challenging tasks. In this study, the authors developed and piloted a professional development program, Learning to Use Formative Assessment in Mathematics with the Assessment Work Sample Method (AWSM) to build middle school math teachers' understanding of the characteristics of high‐quality formative assessment processes and increases their ability to use them in their classrooms. AWSM proved to be feasible to implement in the middle school setting. It improved teachers' practice of formative assessment, especially in their feedback practices, regardless of their pedagogical content knowledge at entry. Results from focus groups suggested that teachers were better able to implement ungraded practice and student self‐ and peer‐assessment after AWSM, and that students were more willing to engage in complex problem solving.