Christa Jackson

Seeing Mathematics Through Different Eyes: An Equitable Approach to Use with Prospective Teachers

Teacher educators need to prepare prospective teachers by encouraging them to critically examine their current beliefs about the teaching and learning of mathematics while also providing opportunities for prospective teachers to develop an equity-centered orientation. Attending to these practices in teacher preparation programs may help prospective teachers observe actions that occur in classrooms and determine effective strategies that provide the opportunity to enhance all students’ access to high-quality mathematics instruction. As mathematics teacher educators, we must recognize what prospective teachers attend to as they direct their attention to various classroom events and how they relate the events to broader principles of teaching and learning. In this chapter, we investigate what prospective teachers attend to in a classroom vignette of a student who is above grade level in mathematics and exhibits disruptive behavior during instruction. Keeping everything constant in the vignette except the student’s race and sex, we examined prospective teachers’ responses when the student was an African American male, White male, African American female, and White female. By attending specifically to race and sex, we explored whether prospective teachers demonstrated (1) an equity-centered orientation toward mathematics instruction or (2) deficit views of students based on race, sex, or the intersection of the two. Using a constant comparative method, the data were coded and analyzed using the equity noticing framework. The results indicate that prospective teachers are beginning to attend to cultural influences and their responses reveal differences not only between races but also between males and females.

Gaining Valuable Field Experience Through the Use of Informal Learning Environments

Informal field experiences can be a powerful mechanism for exposing preservice and inservice teachers to unique opportunities to experience content in ways different than how they were trained and/or different than how their current environment supports it. Additionally, they provide a low-stakes environment to practice and hone important teaching skills and knowledge. In this qualitative study, we examine how a robotics course in an educator preparation program that required a field experience in an informal learning environment impacted its participants. Three themes emerged from their reflections and interviews: (a) development of a better understanding of STEM; (b) increased knowledge and enlightenment of instructional practices, especially the importance of asking good questions; and (c) students’ increased interest and excitement in learning STEM content. Through participation in the robotics course and the required informal field experience, teachers learned more about classroom instruction, students, classroom management, and what sustained engagement looked like through this low-stakes authentic experience. Additionally, they saw firsthand the importance and necessity of creating a positive classroom community (e.g., growth mindset).

Students’ perceptions of STEM learning after participating in a summer informal learning experience

BackgroundInformal learning environments increase students’ interest in STEM (e.g., Mohr‐Schroeder et al. School Sci Math 114: 291–301, 2014) and increase the chances a student will pursue a STEM career (Kitchen et al. Sci Educ 102: 529–547, 2018). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an informal STEM summer learning experience on student participants, to gain in-depth perspectives about how they felt this experience prepared them for their in-school mathematics and science classes as well as how it influenced their perception of STEM learning. Students’ attitudes and perceptions toward STEM are affected by their motivation, experience, and self-efficacy (Brown et al. J STEM Educ Innov Res 17: 27, 2016). The academic and social experiences students’ have are also important. Traditionally, formal learning is taught in a solitary form (Martin Science Education 88: S71–S82, 2004), while, informal learning is brimming with chances to connect and intermingle with peers (Denson et al. J STEM Educ: Innovations and Research 16: 11, 2015).ResultsWe used a naturalistic inquiry, phenomenological approach to examine students’ perceptions of STEM while participating in a summer informal learning experience. Data came from students at the summer informal STEM learning experiences at three diverse institutions across the USA. Data were collected from reflection forms and interviews which were designed to explore students’ “lived experiences” (Van Manen 1990, p. 9) and how those experiences influenced their STEM learning. As we used a situative lens to examine the research question of how participation in an informal learning environment influences students’ perceptions of STEM learning, three prominent themes emerged from the data. The informal learning environment (a) provided context and purpose to formal learning, (b) provided students opportunity and access, and (c) extended STEM content learning and student engagement.ConclusionsBy using authentic STEM workplaces, the STEM summer learning experience fostered a learning environment that extended and deepened STEM content learning while providing opportunity and access to content, settings, and materials that most middle level students otherwise would not have access to. Students also acknowledged the access they received to hands-on activities in authentic STEM settings and the opportunities they received to interact with STEM professionals were important components of the summer informal learning experience.