Collaborative Research: Investigating Middle Grades Mathematics Teachers' Curricular Reasoning

教师对改善美国的数学教学至关重要。教师对数学教学知识的理解的提高导致了教师教育和专业发展的改善。然而，在教学中对数学知识的理解存在差距，包括教师如何对课程进行推理。由于包括教科书在内的课程资源仍然是教师的重要资源和工具，了解教师如何推理课程对于提高教师的知识水平和教学实践具有重要意义。这个与内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校、杨百翰大学、阿肯色大学和大山谷州立大学的合作项目将研究中学数学教师的课程推理，并开发一个分类，供课程开发人员、教师教育工作者和专业开发人员使用，以帮助教师开发富有成效的课程推理。这项研究由EHR核心研究计划资助，该计划强调基础STEM教育研究，将产生该领域的基础知识。投资在至关重要、广泛和持久的关键领域：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大STEM参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。该研究分为三个阶段，首先是对8名教师的访谈和观察协议进行适应、开发和试点，以验证这些工具的有效性和可靠性。第二阶段的重点是通过收集四个州的12名八年级数学教师的分析访谈和观察数据来开发课程推理分类。这些教师将在常规课堂教学中使用新颖的课程材料来教授几何变换。在这一阶段，该项目将对教师在计划和制定课程时的课程推理进行初步分类。在第三阶段，研究人员将通过对四个州20-40名不同教学背景的八年级数学教师的访谈和观察数据来验证和完善课程推理分类。

Teachers are crucial to improving mathematics instruction in the US. Improvements in understanding teachers' knowledge about mathematics for teaching have led to improvements in teacher education and professional development. However, there are gaps in the understanding of mathematics knowledge for teaching, including how teachers reason about curriculum. Because curricular resources, including textbooks, continue to be important resources and tools for teachers, understanding how teachers reason about curriculum are important to improve teachers' knowledge and instructional practice. This collaborative project with the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Brigham Young University, University of Arkansas, and Grand Valley State University, will study middle grade mathematics teachers' curricular reasoning and develop a taxonomy that can be used by curriculum developers, teacher educators and professional developers to help in the development of productive curricular reasoning for teachers. This research is funded by the EHR Core Research Program, which emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This three stage study will begin with adaptation, development, and pilots of the interview and observation protocols with eight teachers to verify that these instruments are valid and reliable. The second stage focuses on developing the curricular reasoning taxonomy by collecting analyzing interview and observation data from 12 grade 8 mathematics teachers in four states. These teachers will be using novel curriculum materials to teach geometry transformations during their regular classroom instruction. During this stage, the project will develop an initial taxonomy of teachers' curricular reasoning as they plan and enact these lessons. In the third stage, the researchers will verify and refine the curricular reasoning taxonomy by collecting interview and observation data from 20-40 grade 8 mathematics teachers in four states with a variety of teaching backgrounds.