Hedi Jaza, a recent graduate student from the MA in Education & Society (mathematics and science concentration) presented a short paper on behalf of the author team, including: Marta Kobiela, VIRL director, and a participant in the study Amna Fleeh. The presentation, titled “Exploring the Affordances and Challenges of Participatory Co-Analysis of Clinical Interviews,” involved the methodological contribution of Hedi’s thesis work, with a focus on one participant case.
Abstract: Clinical interviews have long served as a method to learn about individual’s thinking and reasoning in mathematics and science education. Yet, analysis of interviews has often relied solely on researcher interpretations. In this methodological paper, we share an alternate approach in which we engaged in co-analysis with research participants. We focus on co-analysis sessions conducted with one preservice teacher (the third author) following her engagement in a task-based clinical interview about spatial rotation. We examine how the co-analysis provided additional insights into the participant’s spatial reasoning and the challenges that arose for both the researchers and participant. Our findings suggest the potential of co-analysis for providing greater understanding of participants’ use of gesture and language.
Marta Kobiela also presented a paper on behalf of Zhikun Zhang, Enista Sharonne Chiniah, and Xinyue Chen for the Symposium, “Artifacts to Support Teacher Learning? Rethinking and Forging New Design Principles to Support Teacher Learning,” chaired by Dr. Michelle Perry and Dr. Elizabeth A. van Es. The VIRL team contributed the paper, “Examining frames as an artifact in preservice teachers’ mathematics rehearsals.”
Abstract: Understanding and developing teacher expertise has long been a challenge, especially in the teaching of mathematics. Expertise in teaching requires developing multiple forms of knowledge, instructional practices and commitments, and dispositions and practices to learn in and from teaching. Challenges to accomplishing these different goals have led to new visions for incorporating and leveraging artifacts of classroom instruction—including analog, technologically advanced, and conceptual models—as levers to understand and support teacher learning. Research often privileges asking if artifact-rich learning environments accomplish the desired outcomes, with less attention to how they support teacher learning. In this symposium, we examine different approaches for situating artifacts in pre- and in-service teacher learning contexts. By examining the situated use of artifacts across settings, we gain a nuanced understanding about, and offer design principles for, the productive use of artifacts to improve mathematics teacher learning.
To read more about both papers, see the conference proceedings: