Wanty Widjaja

Building Awareness of Mathematical Modelling in Teacher Education: A Case Study in Indonesia

Interest to teach mathematics closely connected to its use in daily life has grown in Indonesia for over the last decade (Sembiring RK, Hadi S, Dolk M, ZDM – Int J Math Educ 40(6):927–939, 2008). This chapter reports an exploratory case study of the building of an awareness of mathematical modelling in teacher education in Indonesia. A modelling task, Re-designing a Parking Lot (Ang KC, Mathematical modelling in the secondary and junior college classroom. Prentice Hall, Singapore, 2009), was assigned to groups of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. All groups collected data on a parking lot, identified limitations in the current design, and proposed a new design based on observations and analyses. The nature of the mathematical models elicited during the modelling task were examined. Implications of this study suggest a need to encourage pre-service teachers to state assumptions and real-world considerations and link them to the mathematical model in order to validate if the model is appropriate and useful.

Seeing through the eyes of the teacher? Investigating primary school teachers’ professional noticing through a video-based research methodology

ABSTRACT Digital video technology has been increasingly employed to investigate teacher professional noticing. While extensive research has been undertaken to explore the specialised knowledge base underlying teacher professional noticing, there is a need to more closely examine the methodological consequences of video-based approaches for understanding the nature of professional noticing. This paper draws upon a recent study that investigated primary school teachers’ professional noticing of mathematics and science classrooms to discuss issues, challenges, and opportunities that emerge with a video-based research approach. In this study, the latest video technology was employed to allow primary school teachers to take active roles in capturing, selecting and reflecting on significant classroom events on their own and with colleagues. Drawing upon examples from this study, this paper highlights the methodological potential and challenges of video-based approaches to investigating teacher noticing in classrooms, and discusses how this noticing relates to reflection stimulated by classroom videos. It further reveals the tension between the dual priorities of empowering the teacher participants in research and enabling valid interpretations by the researchers in an attempt to gain insight into the complexity of teachers’ professional noticing.

Gender Issues in Elementary Mathematics Teaching Materials

International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) cross-national studies (FIMS, SIMS and TIMSS) show that gender differences in mathematical achievements and attitudes have decreased considerably over thirty years (Hanna, 2000), however, mathematics is still historically stereotyped as a male domain with crucial evidence supporting this belief (Forgasz, Leder, & Kloosterman, 2009).

Developing Teacher Competencies Through Videos for Facilitation of Mathematical Modelling in Singapore Primary Schools

Mathematical modelling tasks which are situated in real-world contexts encourage students to draw connections between school-based mathematics and the real world, enhancing their engagement in learning. Such tasks often require varied interpretations of the real-world problem context resulting in multiple pathways of solutions. Although mathematical modelling has been introduced in the Singapore mathematics curriculum since 2007, its incorporation in schools has been limited. One reason for this could be that teachers are challenged by how best to facilitate for rich student mathematisation processes during such tasks. This chapter reports how a multitiered teaching experiment using design research methodology was conducted to build teachers’ capacity in designing, facilitating, and evaluating student mathematisation during mathematical modelling tasks with an intact class of Primary 5 students (aged 10–11). The use of videos was critical because grounded images helped capture the dynamics and complexity of authentic classroom interactions. This chapter highlights how video recordings of teacher-student interactions during a modelling task were harnessed during design methodology cycles, particularly during the retrospective analysis phase, to activate critical moments of learning for the teacher towards developing her competencies in facilitating students’ mathematisation processes.

The Use of Videos and Classroom Artefacts in Professional Development of Teachers and Teacher Educators in Indonesia

This study is grounded on adaptations of Realistic Mathematics Education, Lesson Study and design-based research in Indonesian classroom contexts. Design-based research has gained currency in educational research over the past decade due to its strength to bridge the divide between theoretical research and educational practice in naturalistic settings. Design-based approaches involve a process of designing mathematical tasks, observing the enacted design in classrooms and reflecting on the process from analysing the classroom artefacts. Video plays a central role in supporting teachers and teacher educators to study and reflect on students’ mathematical thinking and in capturing the dynamic of classroom teaching and learning process. This chapter will examine and analyse practitioners’ lenses in capturing the dynamic and complexity of classroom mathematical learning using video vignettes and classroom artefacts including digital photos of classroom moments and students’ work. Practitioners’ lenses are taken as a window to capture key teaching and learning moments from the lessons. Analysis of this selection of these video vignettes along with other classroom artefacts based on practitioners’ lenses provides insights into practitioners’ views on key teaching and learning moments in mathematics lessons.

Lesson study: making a difference to teaching pupils with learning difficulties

OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) as an example. Education ministries around the world shift their benchmark of student achievement from national to international comparison. ‘Finnish miracle’ and ‘surpass Shanghai’ are slogans which motivate other countries. In fact, a PISA result is a national wake-up call, which heightens the awareness of political leaders and government administrators that their education is falling far behind the rest of their nation and/or their global competitors. They are required to work consistently hard to turn their systems around and raise their ambitions to catch up. The latest international survey (PISA) shows East Asian students are the best by far in all three categories: Maths, Sciences, and Reading. A PISA result stimulates education ministers to question themselves: How do we prepare students to compete in today’s competitive world? How do we prepare today’s kids for tomorrow’s world? How do we make sure that our schools offer all the right skills? Given all of the above, it is uncontroversial to say that this exceptional book is a significant resource to the field of CIE. We recommend it with no hesitation as a resource for undergraduate and postgraduate courses and an important guidebook for researching in the field of CIE. This book suits a broad readership, not only UK readers, but also international readers.