Smarter together working conference: Developing a shared curriculum of Complex Instruction for elementary mathematics methods courses

这次工作会议将帮助教授初级数学方法课程的大学教授学习使用复杂教学，这是一种经过研究验证的教学方法，用于构建数学内容知识和支持不同学生的学习。在复杂的教学中，教育者设计的任务需要多种数学能力来解决。例如，解决一项特定的任务可能需要计算技能，以及将三维对象可视化并在纸上表示该对象的能力。通过这种数学复杂性，任务要求学生深入接触数学，并利用彼此的数学优势。此外，在复杂的教学中，教师使用的策略是将影响参与的课堂地位差异降至最低，确保所有学生--无论他们的受欢迎程度、第一语言、种族或收入水平--平等参与。在会议期间，来自全国各地的28名大学教师将为未来的小学教师设计用于数学方法课程的任务。来自佐治亚大学、亚利桑那大学、密歇根大学和密歇根州立大学的数学教育工作者将共同设计和主办这次会议。预计这次会议将产生一批精通复杂教学的数学教育工作者，他们可以支持本国机构的同事学习使用这种教学法，并在美国小学的数学课堂上推广复杂教学的使用。在学习了复杂教学的基本要素后，与会者将设计复杂的教学课程模块，以便在本国机构实施。对会议的评估将包括对与会者进行调查和电话采访，以评估他们对复杂教学的了解和使用情况。此外，一些参与者将被挑选进行更广泛的后续行动，包括收集课程中复杂教学课程的视频和对学生进行调查。将对数据进行分析，以确定与与会者及其学生的知识有关的主要主题，在采用新教学法的不同背景下存在的支持和障碍，以及复杂教学对方法课程的影响。会议期间设计的所有任务和活动不仅供与会者使用，而且任何对复杂教学感兴趣的人都可以通过网站www.ci.org获得。此外，通过在全国十几所大学培养复杂教学专家，会议将在传播这一相对较新但有效的教育学方面发挥重要作用。关于复杂教学有效性的证据表明，将这种做法大规模地纳入数学方法课堂将提高未来小学教师的数学理解，并最终提高他们的学生的数学理解，特别是在那些有大量边缘化学生的学校。

This working conference will help university professors who teach elementary mathematics methods courses learn to use Complex Instruction, a research-proven pedagogy for building mathematical content knowledge and supporting the learning of diverse students. In Complex Instruction, educators design tasks that require multiple mathematical abilities to solve. For example, solving a particular task might require computational skills as well as the ability to visualize a 3-dimensional object and represent that object on paper. Through this mathematical complexity, the tasks demand that students engage deeply with mathematics and draw on each others' mathematical strengths. In addition, in Complex Instruction teachers use strategies that minimize status differences in the classroom that impact participation, ensuring that all students - regardless of their popularity, first-language, race, or income level - participate equitably. During the conference, 28 university instructors from across the country will design tasks to be used in mathematics methods courses for prospective elementary teachers. Mathematics educators from University of Georgia, University of Arizona, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University will work together to design and host the conference. The conference is expected to produce a cohort of mathematics educators knowledgeable about Complex Instruction, and who can then support colleagues at their home institutions in learning to use the pedagogy as well as promoting the use of Complex Instruction in mathematics classrooms in U.S. elementary schools. After learning the essential elements of Complex Instruction, conference participants will design Complex Instruction curriculum modules to implement at their home institutions. Evaluation of the conference will include surveys and phone interviews with conference participants to assess their knowledge of and use of Complex Instruction. In addition, some participants will be selected for more extensive follow-up, including the collection of videos of Complex Instruction lessons in their courses and surveys of their students. Data will be analyzed to identify major themes related to the knowledge of the participants and their students, the supports and obstacles present in various contexts in relation to adopting a new pedagogy, and the impact of Complex Instruction on the methods courses.All of the tasks and the activities designed during the conference will be available not only to the conference participants but also to anyone interested in Complex Instruction through the website, www.ci.org. In addition, by developing experts in Complex Instruction at more than a dozen universities across the country, the conference will play an important role in disseminating this relatively new, but effective, pedagogy. Evidence about the effectiveness of Complex Instruction suggests that large-scale incorporation of this practice into mathematics methods classrooms will increase the mathematics understandings of prospective elementary teachers and ultimately their students, particularly those in schools with significant numbers of marginalized students.