2015 – Michigan State University Co-Integrate Series

Session Title: Challenges in Studying Opportunities to Learn Algebra and to Teach Algebra in Secondary Teacher Education Programs.

Description: For more than a century, algebra has served as both a foundation for higher mathematics and a gatekeeper for entrance to careers and college course work. The majority of states now require completion of Algebra I or Algebra II for high school graduation; many students now begin their study of algebra in Grade 8. In the past three decades, scholars and professional organizations have also made recommendations for changes in what algebra should be taught and how it should be taught. Mandates about who should take algebra and when, and debates about the algebra curriculum and instruction have raised questions about what algebra future teachers should know and how they should teach algebra. A natural question is “How and to what extent are pre-service teachers being prepared to teach algebra in this changing landscape?”

Presenters: Sharon L. Senk, Jeff Craig, Jia He, Leo Medel, and Eryn Stehr

Presentation Time and Date: January 30, 2015 at 3:30 PM

Citation: Senk, S., Craig, J., He, J. Medel, L., & Stehr, E.M. (2015, January). Challenges in Studying Opportunities to Learn Algebra and to Teach Algebra in Secondary Teacher Education Programs. Session presented as part of the Co-Integrate Seminar Series sponsored by Collaborative Research in Education, Assessment and Teaching Environments (CREATE) for STEM Institute at Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI. ()

2015 – Joint Mathematics Meetings

Session Title: Teacher as Learner: Reflections from Preservice Mathematics Teachers

Description: This session describes pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) reflections on learning algebra at the end of their teacher education programs. Data comes from two focus group interviews at each of four purposefully chosen secondary mathematics teacher education programs and we report on emergent themes identified through qualitative analysis. For example, reasoning and proof were emphasized across universities, but PSTs reported that the practices played different roles at different universities. In some cases, proof was used as an assessment and PSTs were supposed to reproduce memorized proofs. In other cases, reasoning and proof were considered tools for learning, granting access to important mathematical truths. This dichotomy about reasoning and proof led us to consider university characteristics. Only two of the case study sites had mathematics educators involved in their mathematics departments. PSTs from these sites more often connected content from their mathematics courses to K-12 learning and commented about taking ownership of their mathematical knowledge. This session presents ideas about teaching mathematics to PSTs and fostering collaboration between mathematics educators and mathematicians.

Presenters: Andrew Hoffman, Jia He, and Leonard Medel

Presentation Time and Date: Sunday, January 11th, 8:40 AM – 9:00 AM

Citation: Hoffman, A., He, J., & Medel, L. (2015, January). Teacher as learner: Reflections from pre-service mathematics teachers. Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings. San Antonio, TX. (link to presentation slides)

2014 – American Educational Research Association

Symposium Title: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Mathematics Teacher Education Programs: Current and Future Directions

Symposium Chair: Yukiko Maeda

Description: This symposium highlights issues and challenges identified by mathematics educators as they study the impact of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM, Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010) on the preparation of preservice mathematics teachers. Participants will gain both understanding of these important issues and of the challenges of research in this area.

PTA Presenters: Jeffrey Craig, Sharon L. Senk, Yukiko Maeda, and Vivian G. Alexander

PTA Presentation Title: Reported Changes in Secondary Mathematics Teacher Education Programs due to the Common Core State Standards

Presentation Date and Time: Friday, April 4, 2014 from 4:05 PM – 5:35 PM

Description: This research investigates relations between secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics [CCSSM] focusing specifically on the following question:  How and to what extent are secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs responding to the CCSSM?

Citation:  Craig, J. He, J., Senk, S. L., Maeda, Y., & Alexander, V. G.  (2014, April). Reported changes in secondary mathematics teacher education programs due to the Common Core State Standards. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Philadelphia, PA.

2014 – American Educational Research Association

Presenters: Yukiko Maeda, Sharon L. Senk, Vivian G. Alexander, Jeffrey Craig, and Jia He

Session Title: Preparation for Teaching Algebra: Results from a National Survey

Presentation Date and Time: Thursday, April 3, 2014 from 2:15 PM – 3:45 PM

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a national snapshot of current secondary mathematics teacher education programs in the United States, particularly as pertains to preparation for teaching algebra. In this report, we address the following specific questions.

1. What are the demographic characteristics of secondary mathematics teacher education programs?
2. What is the relative emphasis in these programs on mathematics courses, mathematics courses primarily for teachers, and mathematics education, e.g. methods, courses?
3. What courses are typically offered together in secondary mathematics teacher education programs?
4. To what extent do these programs provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to learn about algebra, algebra teaching, issues in achieving equity in algebra learning, and the algebra, functions, and modeling standards and mathematical practices described in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM)?

Citation:  Maeda, Y. Senk, S. L. Alexander, V. G., Craig, J., & He, J.  (2014, April). Preparation for teaching algebra: Results from a national survey. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Philadelphia, PA. (link to presentation slides)

2014 – Sixth Annual Graduate Academic Conference at Michigan State University

Presenters: Eryn M. Stehr and Lynette Guzman

Presentation title: Technology and algebra in secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs

Presentation Date and Time: Thursday, March 27, 2014 from 10:20 AM – 12:00 PM

Abstract:  Most recently, the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences has advocated for incorporating technology in secondary mathematics classrooms. Colleges and universities across the United States are incorporating technology to varying degrees into their mathematics teacher preparation programs. Additionally, a prominent focus of current mathematics education reform efforts involves preparing future secondary mathematics teachers to teach algebra due to a growing demand for algebra courses in middle school and high school. This study examines pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ opportunities to expand their knowledge of algebra through the use of technology and to learn how to incorporate technology when teaching algebra in mathematics classrooms. Through this study, we explored the following research question: What opportunities do secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs provide for PSTs to encounter technologies in learning algebra and learning to teach algebra? We examined instructor interviews, student interviews and course instructional materials as data collected from a pilot study of three Midwestern teacher preparation programs conducted by a larger project investigating opportunities teacher preparation programs provide pre-service secondary mathematics teachers to learn algebra and to learn to teach algebra. Our data suggest that not all secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs integrate experiences with technology across mathematics courses. More specifically, we found that mathematics education courses integrate technology through learning experiences more commonly than in mathematics courses, and the mathematics courses may provide few experiences with technology to PSTs beyond strictly computational.

Citation: Stehr, E. & Guzman, L. (2014, March). Examining Opportunities in Teacher Preparation Programs that Integrate Pre-service Secondary Teachers’ Experiences with Technology and Algebra. Paper presented at the Sixth Annual Graduate Academic Conference at Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI. (link to presentation slides)

Paper Published – Notices of the American Mathematical Society

Title: Recommendations from MET II:  Investigating the alignment of secondary mathematics teacher education programs. Authors: Jill Newton, Yukiko Maeda, Vivian Alexander, and Sharon Senk

Abstract:  The Mathematical Education of Teachers II [MET II] makes recommendations about preparing teachers to teach the mathematics described in the recently released Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Recommendations for teacher preparation programs include taking advanced mathematics courses, mathematics courses designed for teachers to strengthen their understanding of school mathematics, and mathematics methods courses.  In this study, we used results from a national survey to investigate the alignment of current secondary mathematics teacher education programs with the recommendations for middle grades and high school programs in MET II.  Results indicated that most surveyed programs are meeting the advanced mathematics and methods recommendations, but are falling short in their requirements for courses designed for teachers that focus on school mathematics.

Citation:
Newton, J. A., Maeda, Y., Alexander, V., & Senk, S. L. (2014). How well are secondary mathematics teacher education programs aligned with the recommendations made in MET II? Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 61(3), 292–295.

2014 – American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

Presenters: Yukiko Maeda, Jill Newton, Sharon L. Senk, Jeffrey Craig, and Eryn M. Stehr

Presentation title: Preparing secondary mathematics teachers for teaching algebra in the age of Common Core Standards

Presentation Date and Time: Sunday, March 2, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 10:15 AM

Abstract:  It is critically important that “the nation’s mathematics teachers have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to provide students with a mathematics education that ensures that hjgh school mathematics graduates are college- and career-ready as envisioned in the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics” (Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences [CBMS], 2012) Hence, a fundamental question for teacher education is “What opportunities are secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs in the U.S. providing pre-service teachers [PSTs] to learn the mathematics described in the Common Core and in recent recommendations such as CBMS (2012)?”  The data we will discuss in this session come from a recent survey of 132 secondary mathematics teacher education programs in the U.S. Because of the importance of algebra as both a foundation for higher mathematics and as a gatekeeper to college courses and many careers, our survey focused on opportunities to learn about algebra, teaching algebra, issues in equity in learning algebra, and the functions and modeling aspects of the CCSS-M.

Citation:  Maeda, Y., Newton, J., Senk, S., Craig, Jeffrey, & Stehr, E. (2014, March). Preparing secondary mathematics teachers for teaching algebra in the age of Common Core Standards. Paper presented at the Sixty-sixth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Indianapolis, IN. (link to presentation slides)

2014 – Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education

Presenters: Eryn M. Stehr and Lynette Guzman

Presentation title: Technology and algebra in secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs

Presentation Date and Time: Friday, February 28, 2014 from 10:25 AM – 10:55 AM

Abstract:  Most recently, the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences has advocated for incorporating technology in secondary mathematics classrooms. Colleges and universities across the United States are incorporating technology to varying degrees into their mathematics teacher preparation programs. This study examines preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ opportunities to expand their knowledge of algebra through the use of technology and to learn how to incorporate technology when teaching algebra in mathematics classrooms. We explore the research question: What opportunities do secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs provide for PSTs to encounter technologies in learning algebra and learning to teach algebra? We examine data collected from a pilot study of three Midwestern teacher education programs conducted by the Preparing to Teach Algebra (PTA) project investigating algebra. Our data suggest that not all secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs integrate experiences with technology across mathematics courses, and that mathematics courses may provide few experiences with technology to PSTs beyond strictly computational.

Citation: Stehr, E. & Guzman, L. (submitted). Technology and algebra in secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs. Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME). Denver, CO.

Stehr, E. & Guzman, L. (2014, February). Technology and algebra in secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs. Paper presented at the Seventeenth Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME). Denver, CO.  (link to presentation slides)

2014 – CREATE for STEM Institute Mini-Conference at Michigan State University

Presenters: Eryn M. Stehr and Lynette Guzman

Presentation title: Technology and algebra in secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs

Presentation Date and Time: Thursday, February 20, 2014 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Abstract:  Most recently, the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences has advocated for incorporating technology in secondary mathematics classrooms. Colleges and universities across the United States are incorporating technology to varying degrees into their mathematics teacher preparation programs. This study examines preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ opportunities to expand their knowledge of algebra through the use of technology and to learn how to incorporate technology when teaching algebra in mathematics classrooms. We explore the research question: What opportunities do secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs provide for PSTs to encounter technologies in learning algebra and learning to teach algebra? We examine data collected from a pilot study of three Midwestern teacher education programs conducted by the Preparing to Teach Algebra (PTA) project investigating algebra. Our data suggest that not all secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs integrate experiences with technology across mathematics courses, and that mathematics courses may provide few experiences with technology to PSTs beyond strictly computational.

Citation: Stehr, E. & Guzman, L. (2014, February). Technology and algebra in secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs. Poster presented at the CREATE for STEM Institute Mini-Conference at Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI.

2015 – Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE)

Session Title: Program cases of opportunities to learn algebra and to learn to teach algebra

Description: The aim of our study is to explore the different ways that secondary mathematics teacher education programs prepare PSTs to teach algebra to diverse student populations in the context of changing standards and algebra-related educational policies. Algebra is of particular importance as it is considered a civil right and serves as a gatekeeper to more advanced courses and science and mathematics-related career opportunities (Kilpatrick & Izsák, 2008; Moses & Cobb, 2001).  We will discuss opportunities to learn (OTLs) algebra and OTLs to teach algebra in five programs, highlighting areas of concentration and unique qualities.  With this aim in mind, our research question is: How do learning opportunities offered at five secondary mathematics teacher education programs support pre-service teachers in learning about algebra and learning to teach algebra?

Presenters: Alexia Mintos, Eryn M. Stehr, Jeffrey Craig, and Jill Newton.

Presentation Time and Date: Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 9:00 AM

Citation: Mintos, A., Stehr, E.M., Craig, J., & Newton, J. (2015, February), Program cases of opportunities to learn algebra and to learn to teach algebra. Paper presented at The Nineteenth Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), Orlando, FL.