Collaborative Research: Online Collaboration to Understand Preservice Teachers' Developing MKT

来自四个不同机构(犹他州立大学、西弗吉尼亚大学、米尔斯学院和圣彼得堡学院)的教师教育教师正在与数学论坛合作，研究参与在线数学辅导体验的小学预科教师(PTS)数学知识的发展。本研究旨在探讨学生在实地教学过程中对这些知识的保留和运用情况。教师和他们的PTS正在学习使用虚拟现场作业序列(VFS)，这是一套结构化的在线模块，支持PTS与年级水平的数学合作，识别学生的强项，并在线向“现场”学生提供反馈。专业发展模式的一个关键要素及其很大程度上的独特性在于，教师们正在反思和分析数据，并描述他们的试点研究结果，包括VFS对学生MKT的影响。这项工作有望通过调查如何进一步发展MKT，对职前教师的学习产生重要的发现。该项目采用在职方法来促进相关教师的专业发展，先前的研究表明，这一战略在促进教学实践的变化方面具有重要意义。其中一个成果是一个在线专业发展模块，它是协作的、定位的，并专注于发展职前教师的MKT。参与其中的学生是非传统的、代表性不足的少数族裔第一代大学生。该项目对STEM本科生的教师教学方法和学生的MKT都产生了影响，这两个领域目前都被认为是STEM教育需要改进的领域。

Teacher education faculty from four diverse institutions (Utah State, West Virginia University, Mills College, and St. Petersburg College) are collaborating with the Math Forum to study the development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) in elementary Preservice Teachers (PTs) who participate in online mathematics mentoring experiences. The study is investigating the retention and application of this knowledge during the PTs' student teaching experiences in the field. Faculty, along with their PTs, are learning to use the Virtual Fieldwork Sequence (VFS), a structured set of online modules that supports PTs to work with grade level mathematics, identify student strengths, and provide feedback to "live" students on-line. A key element of the professional development model and a large part of its uniqueness is that the faculty are reflecting on and analyzing the data and describing the findings from their pilot study, including the impact of the VFS on student MKT. The work is expected to yield significant findings concerning the learning of preservice teachers by investigating how MKT might be further developed. The project adopts an on-the-job approach to the professional development of the involved faculty, a strategy that prior research has shown to be significant in promoting change in teaching practices. One of the outcomes is an on-line professional development module that is collaborative, situated, and focused on developing preservice teachers' MKT. The students involved are non-traditional, underrepresented minority, first-generation college students. The project has an impact on both the teaching approaches of faculty of undergraduate STEM students and the students' MKT both of which are currently recognized as areas of STEM education needing improvement.