Collaborative Research: Justification and Argumentation: Growing Understanding of Algebraic Reasoning (JAGUAR)

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Project Abstract: The main goal of the project is to understand how teachers 1) develop specific mathematical knowledge (algebraic justification), 2) transform this knowledge to classroom practice, and 3) advance in their pedagogy to promote students? learning. The project will clarify the meaning of justification for school algebra through collaborations among mathematicians, teachers, and mathematics educators. The project focuses on the important and under-explored connection between teachers? mathematical learning in a professional development environment and the subsequent a) changes in their teaching practice and b) continued deepening of their content knowledge in practice. Additionally, by working with a select group of exemplary teachers, the project explores the development of advanced inquiry teaching, namely teaching that supports students? mathematics learning via justification activities. The project design features a coordinated two-pronged approach in which teacher learning is examined in the context of a mathematics content course and the teachers? own classrooms. Data collection activities are designed to facilitate coordinated analyses to investigate connections across these two contexts. The summer course for teachers is modeled on a course that has been implemented successfully as part of an NSF-funded professional development project. Similarly, activities conducted with teachers during the academic year will provide opportunities for the teachers to develop advanced teaching practices and opportunities for the project team to investigate the development process. The project will utilize and extend existing instruments for assessing students? and teachers? understanding of justification. Algebra and algebraic reasoning are core to the discipline of mathematics and have national importance for the development of qualified STEM workforce.