Case-based pedagogy for prospective teachers to learn how to teach elementary mathematics in Korea

Abstract

Cases have been used in mathematics teacher education with increasing prominence. Yet, there is little research that confirms cases as pedagogical tools to improve prospective teacher expertise, specifically in Asian contexts. This article illustrates how a specific case-based pedagogy was developed and implemented in Korea to increase prospective elementary teacher expertise in terms of paying attention to the mathematics-specific features of a lesson. The results showed that the participant teachers' analytic foci moved from general to substantive features of a mathematics lesson. This tendency was evident when they reflected on their own teaching and was confirmed by their self-assessment. Given this, issues and suggestions in teacher education programs to promote teacher expertise in terms of mathematics-specific analysis ability are discussed.

Analyzing the Impact of Video Representation Complexity on Preservice Teacher Noticing of Children’s Thinking

“…For example, Alsawaie and Alghazo (2010) found that, when PSTs were asked to analyze video lessons with a framework, utilizing video helped PSTs to pay attention to noteworthy events in classroom interactions, and develop their ability to pay attention to children's learning when watching and analyzing a lesson. Similarly, Santagata, Zannoni and Stigler (2007) and Pang (2011) both found that the use of video enhanced PSTs' ability to attend to children's thinking beyond mere descriptions to more nuanced observations of the effects of teachers' actions on children's thinking. While not a specific focus on mathematics, Masats and Dooly (2011) in their study of the use of video case studies in a teacher education program found that PSTs reported they were better able to understand more of the complexities and nuances in teaching practice by engaging with the video case studies.…”

Changes in Pre-service Teachers’ Noticing Through an Elementary Mathematics Method

“…We employed four main topics (i.e., Mathematical Tasks, Instructional Strategies, Learning Environment, and Mathematical Discourse), building on Pang (2011). We then subdivided each topic to capture various aspects in the PSTs' comments more precisely (see Table 2).…”

“…However, observing a salient part of an entire lesson is different from understanding the overall situation of the lesson. Given that a mathematics lesson involves complex situations in which multiple factors are intertwined (Lampert, 2001), PSTs need to be able to observe the lesson as a whole to fully understand the interactions among the teacher, students, and content (Pang, 2011). This study examined how and what aspects PSTs pay attention to in an elementary mathematics lesson as a whole.…”

Using Cases as a Means to Discuss Errors in Mathematics Teacher Education

“…Common types of cases that are employed in mathematics teacher education include exemplars [20], narratives [21,22], video cases [23], and problem situations [24,25]. The case presented in this paper could be categorized as a specific type of problem situation case.…”