Learning study – promoting and hindering factors in mathematics teaching

Abstract

This article focuses on presenting success factors for a group of teachers in carrying out a learning study in mathematics at their school. The research questions are: what are the actions of the school teaching community during development projects? What factors enable a group of teachers to carry out a learning study at their school? Activity theory provides a holistic framework to investigate relationships among the components present in a learning study. The results are based on analysis of interviews with teachers, students, principal organizers of schools and project coordinators, videotaped lessons, students' tests and minutes taken at meetings of mathematics projects. The results show that the skills of facilitators, the time devoted to collaborative work, the link to learning theory and avoiding overly comprehensive content when teaching lessons are important promoting factors in mathematics teaching. The findings raise important questions about the way in which teacher work within universities.

Different student achievement profiles in a learning study about integers: are the students included?

“…Earlier research indicates that struggling learners gain more than do other learners when a learning study approach is used (Kwok and Chik, 2005;Fung-Lo and Marton, 2005;Olteanu, 2018). This study complements previous knowledge by offering a more nuanced understanding, as we have investigated individual learners' achievement in depth.…”

“…Some of these studies show that learning studies may help low-achieving students' learning. Olteanu (2018), for instance, showed that all students' learning improved, but that students who "have struggled with mathematics and who have the greatest need for explanations" (p. 983) made the greatest progress. In a research project targeting students' individual differences, learning studies in mathematics and other school subjects were conducted (Fung-Lo and Marton, 2005).…”

“…Cheung and Wong, 2014;Marton, 2015). The largest increase in learning, based on post-test results after learning study interventions, has been observed among students with the lowest pre-test results (Fung-Lo and Marton, 2005;Olteanu, 2018). However, students who do not improve their mathematical achievement during learning studies seem to have been neglected and are of substantial interest in this article.…”

Delaktighet för elever med olika förkunskaper i matematik: en interdisciplinär studie om betydelsen av undervisningens utformning och genomförande för elevers lärande

“…Efter att ha studerat elevers lärande genom identiska test före och efter learning study-lektionen, observerade forskarna att den största ökningen av lärande återfanns bland elever med lägst resultat på förtestet (Lo & Marton, 2005). I liknande resultat hävdas att kollegialt arbete i form av learning study har visat sig vara särskilt fördelaktigt för elever som kämpar med matematik (Kwok & Chik, 2005;Olteanu, 2018). Mer preciserat framkom att alla elevers lärande förbättrades, men att elever som "har kämpat med matematik och som har störst behov av förklaringar" (Olteanu, 2018, s. 983) gjorde störst framsteg.…”

“…Detta är i linje med forskning som visar att undervisning enligt learning study-modellen kan vara positiv för elevers lärande (Ex. Lo et al, 2005;Lo & Marton, 2005;Ming Cheung & Wong, 2014;Olteanu, 2018). Trots detta saknades analyser av huruvida undervisningens utformning lyckades bidra till lärande på en individuell nivå i licentiatuppsatsen samt artikel 1 och 2 (Lövström, 2015;Runesson Kempe & Lövström, 2017;Runesson et al, 2018).…”