An examination of current trends in conference programming reflects the recent changes in education that have transformed instruction and learning. The 239 sessions of the Twenty-third International Conference on Learning were categorized in this study according to categorical purpose: educational, round table, general, business meeting, and social/reception sessions. Data were classified according to 10 subject areas including administration, research, instruction, diversity, inclusion, and advocacy sessions. Data revealed both changing and several new trends. The largest proportionate subject areas were teaching instruction (36%) and research presentation sessions (25%); followed by instructional technology (11%), teacher preparation (9%), and administration sessions (8%) within educational, general, and round table session categories. The largest proportion of sessions by focus within the subject area was pedagogy (53%), followed by sessions involving teaching post-secondary level students, and assessment of student learning. A sizeable proportion of sessions (8%) comprised the "other topics" content, and these new trends were STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), creative thinking, and social intelligence session themes. Inclusion and special education comprised 4% of all sessions, which is consistent with reports from the literature.

This study examined the extent to which preservice teachers (PSTs) develop their capacity to attend to children’s strategies and interpret and respond on the basis of children’s mathematical understanding in the context of two well-designed assignments: Inquiry into Student Thinking assignment and tutoring assignment. The two assignments were assigned after 6 and 10 weeks of instruction, respectively. The analysis revealed that PSTs attended to children’s strategies and interpreted children’s mathematical understanding but struggled with the component skill of responding to children’s mathematical understanding in the two assignments. Although the nature of tasks selected differed across the two assignments, generally PSTs focused on tasks that would develop children’s mathematical understanding. The findings have theoretical implications for a hypothesized trajectory of professional noticing of children’s mathematical understanding and the design of mathematics methods courses.

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This chapter examines preservice teachers' (PSTs) perceptions on the design of both an online and face-to-face mathematics content course for elementary and middle school preservice teachers. The chapter describes the instructor's design goals, considerations, and describes PSTs' experiences in the process of completing the course. Further, the chapter describes the features of the course that provided productive learning opportunities for PSTs. Drawing from PSTs' reflection after completing an online course and face-to-face course, the chapter compares PSTs' experiences and learning outcomes from the online course compared to a traditional face-to-face course. Finally, the authors explicate the affordances and constraints encountered by both the instructor and the students as they completed the online course.

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