Challenging assumptions about relationships between mathematics pedagogy and ICT integration: surveying teachers in English secondary schools

Abstract

Challenging assumptions about relationships between mathematics pedagogy and ICT integration: surveying teachers in English secondary schoolsThis study investigates associations between mathematics pedagogy and teachers' integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICT). As an early adopter of presentation-oriented hardware and software in mathematics classrooms, England represents a critical case for investigating associations between mathematics pedagogy and teachers' integration of ICT into classroom practice. This paper reports the results of a survey of English secondary mathematics teachers' use of ICT (n=183). Using Rasch analysis to construct a measure of mathematics pedagogy, a consistent trend is found between frequent use of 'teacher-centred' software and a more 'studentcentred' orientation. The analysis also suggests that some 'teacher-centred' practices involving ICT may instead be construed as 'dominant' practices.Taken together with case-study evidence of teachers' ICT integration from research on technology in education, these findings challenge assumptions about relationships between mathematics pedagogy and ICT integration prevalent in the mathematics education literature.

Ergonomic, epistemological and existential challenges of integrating digital tools into school mathematics

“…Such explanations imply that the epistemological and existential dimensions will be less significant in relation to the integration of digital tools which do not involve the types of representational, computational and operational shift that have been outlined above. Certainly, such shifts are less pronounced for the types of digital tool reported as being more widely used in school mathematics, notably digital presentational tools – such as interactive whiteboard and presentation software – and digital curricular resources – such as prepared presentations and interactive worksheets (Bretscher, 2021). The wider uptake of such tools may, at least in part, be explicable in terms of a relative absence of epistemological and existential challenges associated with their use.…”

“…The wider uptake of such tools may, at least in part, be explicable in terms of a relative absence of epistemological and existential challenges associated with their use. Equally, while integrating them still faces ergonomic challenges, the potential of such tools to support and enhance already well established ‘dominant practices’ in school mathematics provides a strong incentive to resolve such challenges (Bretscher, 2021).…”

Implementation of the New Sub-Program for Mathematics Teachers at the University of Latvia

“…Students of the sub-program "Mathematics Teacher" who graduated from school until 2021 and are going to graduate in a year or two, will have to teach topics they did not learn at school themselves, because many mathematics topics were not included in the previous curricula (Regulations on State Secondary Education Curricula, Subject Standards and Samples of Educational Programs, 2013), so it is important to link theoretical knowledge to the methodology without delay. The study process also focuses on learning and using the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Mathematics lessons (the study program "Teacher" has both specific courses and use of the ICT integrated in the study courses), because the ICT is more actively used in schools in the teaching process (Bretscher, 2021), since it helps to ensure the study process and get quick feedback. Nevertheless, in order to include new study courses, some courses should be excluded -in mathematics several theoretical courses were reduced, following courses are no longer thought to the future teachers:…”