Figure 1 - uploaded by Qinqiong Zhang
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
In the official curriculum documents of many countries, statistical thinking have become part of the mainstream in school curriculum. We argue that teacher capacity is a key dimension in realizing essential goals for developing students' statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking in practical teaching. In this paper, a construct of Teacher Capaci...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... the four criteria above, criterion D is intended to give greater emphasis to how teachers use their professionally informed judgment to design practical teaching on specific topics. Our model of teacher capacity is shown in Figure 1 ( Zhang & Stephens, 2013). ...
Context 2
... shown in Figure 1, each of the four criteria is focused on teachers' professionally informed judgments and dispositions to act, distinguishing them from the four knowledge domains of Ball et al. (2008). Criterion D (design of teaching) is put forward as the central component in our model. ...
Context 3
... multi-step linear regression analysis confirmed the importance of Criterion D: On its own, Criterion D accounted for 88.5 % of the variance of our model. This also endorses our placing of Design of Teaching at the center of the model shown in Figure 1, where it is informed by the other three criteria, which are only weakly related when dissociated from Design of Teaching. ...
Similar publications
Citations
... In statistical education, the ability to think statistically is the main skill that must be mastered by students (Garfield et al., 2015;Meylasari et al., 2021;Zhang & Stephens, 2016). Correspondingly, previous studies suggest that that the ability to think statistically is highly beneficial as it can help solve various problems and is the current need of a developing country (Bailey et al., 2020;Tong, 2019). ...
The integration of sustainability education across subjects is an effort to instill concern in students for preserving global well-being. However, experts are required to be involved in organizing effective strategies to ensure that the targeted goals are achieved through the integration of sustainability education across subjects. Our research explored expert views on the elements that need to be emphasized in integrating sustainability education and statistics education. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 13 experts, including lecturers, curriculum developers, and teachers. The continuous comparative analysis of the collected data produced four themes, discovering elements that must be present in integrating sustainability education and statistics education, namely (i) statistics education, (ii) sustainability education, (iii) statistical data, and (iv) learning strategies. The findings of this study significantly contribute to contemporary curriculum development by identifying key components necessary for merging sustainability education with statistics education. Hence, the difficulty of school teachers to integrate sustainability education into statistics education should be recognized, so as to input teachers and curriculum developers in providing relevant learning experiences in the objectives of statistics education and sustainability education.
... As Zuya (2014) and Wu (2017) have argued, mathematics teachers should be able to anticipate students' typical misconceptions and obtain timely information on the students' knowledge understanding process before new lessons. Zhang et al. (2016) argued that Ball's important work on PCK, using Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching did not appear to pay sufficient attention to knowledge of the official curriculum due to its American background, preferring their term Teacher Capacity which included four criteria: knowledge of mathematics, interpretation of the intentions of the official mathematics curriculum, understanding of students' mathematics thinking, and design of teaching. The strength of the Teacher Capacity model is the importance it attaches to both content and cognition components, where in particular the cognition dimension investigated in this study connects with the second, third and fourth components of the Teacher Capacity model. ...
... The study created an assessment framework of primary school mathematics teachers' knowledge of students' misconceptions in Space and Shape, including content knowledge standards and teachers' performance standards. Referring to the Teacher Capacity model proposed by Zhang et al. (2016), we established four cognition subdimensions of primary school mathematics teachers' knowledge of students' misconceptions, and determined the content subdimensions according to the Mathematics Curriculum Standard for Compulsory Education of China. On this basis, we developed assessment tools and tested 701 mathematics teachers. ...
The study aimed to establish an assessment model for mathematics teachers’ knowledge of students’ misconceptions in the Space and Shape domain, develop the testing tool, investigate and analyse the overall and differences in performance, and propose suggestions for improvement. The assessment model included content knowledge and performance standards. The content knowledge standard included cognition and content dimensions. The cognition dimension was subdivided into predicting the misconceptions, interpreting the misconceptions, analysing the reasons and teaching strategies to correct misconceptions. According to the division of Space and Shape in official curriculum standard, the content dimension was subdivided into Recognition of graphics, Measurement, Motion, and Location. 701 Chinese mathematics teachers from 8 provinces were involved to verify the assessment model. Item response theory was used to estimate teachers’ performance, and
combinations of response categories was used to divide the teachers’ performance into three response levels: Low, Medium and High. 81% of teachers were performing at Medium and High response levels. Teachers performed the worst in Recognition of
graphics and the best in Measurement. The worst performance occurred in analysing the reasons, the best in interpreting the misconceptions. These results have provided evidences for adjusting teacher activities, improving teacher education courses and teachers training.
... Wu et al. (2021) identified substantial variations in knowledge related to DL among 531 participating preservice teachers, particularly regarding data extraction, representation, and interpretation. Similarly, Zhang and Stephens (2016) detected large knowledge differences in statistics and probability among 82 in-service teachers. Rowe et al. (2020) found differences in domain-specific knowledge to teach DL skills between high school, middle school, and elementary school teachers. ...
Statistical and data literacy have emerged as key competencies in the 21st-century. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula have been adapted in various countries to place increased emphasis on proficient data use and statistical comprehension. Consequently, there is a need for an adequate education and professional training of STEM teachers. This systematic review analyzes and synthesizes research on teachers' statistical and data literacy in K-12 STEM education. A total of 42 articles were analyzed, with a specific focus on teacher variables, teacher education, and their impact on classroom practice. The findings emphasize the recent emergence of research in this domain, particularly focusing on statistical literacy, with mathematics being the dominant STEM domain explored. Most studies examined cognitive variables of both pre-service and in-service teachers, revealing relevant gaps in knowledge and skills related to statistical and data literacy. Limited attention was given to teachers' affective variables. Research on the complex relationships between teacher variables, their teaching practices, and their students' learning is scarce, necessitating further investigation. Several pedagogical approaches to prepare STEM teachers for promoting statistical and data literacy in their classrooms were identified. Positive impacts on teachers' cognitive and affective variables were observed, but longitudinal effects and transfer to classroom practice require further inquiry. As curricula worldwide increasingly emphasize statistical and data literacy, this review underscores the necessity of enhancing teachers' competencies, advocates for tailored pedagogical approaches, and emphasizes the need for further research to shape effective instruction in K-12 STEM education.
... Several empirical studies, particularly those by [20,21] Bruckmaier et al. (2016) and Knievel et al. (2016), can be linked to this perspective of viewing teacher knowledge and skills as integrated aspects of teacher competence underlying classroom performance in terms of instructional quality, which is hypothesized to affect student achievement, despite significant differences in construct conceptualization, labeling, and operationalization. The authors of [22] Zhang Qinqiong and Max Stephens (2016) designed a model of Mathematics teachers' professional competence, and this model has been popularly employed in several nations due to its effectiveness in teaching and learning, as well as its suitability for Mathematics subjects. This model focused on the ability of the Mathematics teacher to plan lessons, and it found a strong correlation between three competence components: the teacher's understanding of mathematics, their interpretation of the official Mathematics curriculum, and their comprehension of students' mathematical thinking ( Figure 6). ...
... Teachers use the curriculum content to identify the related knowledge fields that students already know and to predict students' difficulties when they learn the new knowledge in order to motivate or engage students effectively. To sum up, curriculum content is the nuclear content, which is the guidelines for teachers' lesson design to achieve the program outcomes, not only regarding knowledge or cognitive outcomes but also thinking skills, attitudes, and willingness of learning for development [22]. Based on this, the lesson design focuses on both lesson goals and program or curriculum content and outcomes that help teachers in schools improve their professional competencies. ...
... How can we enhance awareness of the application of models of professional competencies in teaching and learning practices? After reading the documents and listening to an overview of [22] Zhang and Stephens's (2016) theoretical model, participants present a summary of the models in their own words. ...
Teachers’ professional development is now widely regarded as a key determinant of school effectiveness and student achievement. However, Mathematics teachers in Vietnamese secondary schools face numerous challenges in their teaching practices, such as a lack of recourse assistance, a lack of innovational teaching policy, and difficulty in using real-life examples in teaching. This study aims to identify Mathematics teachers’ professional competence components and organize a workshop to support Vietnamese teachers to enhance professional development through experiment research. A total of 40 postgraduate students on the master’s course of Mathematics Education at Saigon University are involved in this study. To reach the study objectives, we conducted three research cycles of: (1) Reviews to identify the model of Mathematics teachers’ professional competence for suitability in the Vietnamese context; (2) Developing materials and organizing the workshop on designing lessons that teach linear functional concepts in Grade 8 (13-year-old students); (3) Feedback analysis through a qualitative study with a group focus interview of 40 workshop participants. Data collection was recorded, and typed transcripts and theme development were employed in data analysis. The findings outline four criteria that serve as the cornerstone of our concept of professional competences for Mathematics teachers: I. Mathematical Knowledge; II. Interpretation of the Official Mathematics Curriculum’s Intentions; III. Understanding of Students’ Thoughts; and IV. Design of Teaching. This model was applied in materials design for the workshop and was highly appreciated and got a high level of satisfaction from participants. These findings are expected to bring benefits for stakeholders who are Mathematics teachers in schools or involved in Mathematics teacher education in higher education.
... These positions, for some time now, have led to a lot of interest and research into the issues of teachers' curriculum knowledge and its impact of teaching and learning across disciplines (Zhang & Stephen, 2016;Situma, 2016;Ozkan, 2016;Njoku & Njoku, 2015;Behar & George, 1994;Khoza, 2016). Studies have shown that the teachers' knowledge of the rationale and aims for teaching a subject is paramount in the attainment of intended learning outcomes (Sahin & Suylu, 2017;Ozkan, 2016). ...
The study sought to investigate on teachers' curriculum knowledge in teaching Christian Religious Studies among Senior High Schools of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The population of the study was CRS teachers in Senior high schools in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Through census sampling approach, all teachers of CRS were involved in filling the questionnaire. Analysis of data was done through descriptive statistics. The study established that teachers of CRS had high knowledge about the rationale of teaching CRS. It was also found that teachers of CRS had high knowledge of the aims of teaching CRS. It is therefore recommended that Universities that are mandated to train teachers of CRS in Ghana should include courses like curriculum studies in CRS emphasis, the rationale (philosophy and logic) and aims for the subject. This would ensure that teachers who teach CRS have adequate knowledge and the rationale and aims for teaching the subject. The Ghana Education Service (GES) in collaboration with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) should organise regular in-service trainings for the teachers of CRS.
... Further literature research has proven that statistics skill positively impacting the efficiency and the quality of numerous fields such as medical (Lee, 2015;Cox & Efron, 2017), management (Storey & Song, 2017), agriculture (Toledo et al., 2018), education (Baig et al., 2020;Ramadhani et al., 2018;Zhang & Stephens, 2016) and others. ...
... Certainly, teachers must also be able to understand statistics in the right sense in order to be able to transfer it to their students in such a way that it would aff ect their development and ability to use a statistical method of thinking, thus we need to encourage teachers' statistical literacy and tstatistical thinking. Teacher capacity is a key dimension in realizing the essential goals for developing students' statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking in practical teaching (Zhang & Stephens, 2016). Students should be included in the learning process and teachers should encourage critical thinking that represents an important task of mathematics education (Maričić & Špijunović, 2015) as well as statistics education. ...
In math classes solving statistical tasks by using procedures which the student learned by heart is usually used. The authors, thus encouraged learning and teaching statistics on the basis of realistic problems and problem situations, so that the student gets to know statistical concepts within the experience of resolving a real-life problem situation. With this approach to learning and teaching statistics, students acquired a better knowledge and were able to grasp, interpret and make critical evaluations of the statistical information, which was confirmed by the experiment that involved 269 first-grade high school students.
The term ‘statistical thinking’ might seem straightforward at face value, yet defining it precisely remains a challenge. What exactly constitutes statistical thinking? And how does it differentiate from other forms of thinking? To date, the academic community lacks a universally accepted definition. Thus, this study employed a retrospective research method, examining and analyzing the discourse on statistical thinking in international journals over the past 30 years, integrating findings from 44 papers. Beyond analyzing research trends, this study also compiled seven definitions or structures of statistical thinking. The results indicate that various fields have favored definitions or structures, but regardless of the chosen definition or structure, there is a consistent association with the concept of variation. Concluding, the researchers reviewed the curriculum guidelines for 12-year basic education and the implications of statistical education within Taiwan’s curriculum, offering tangible recommendations for future investigations.
Although implementing a competency-oriented national mathematics curriculum is a global trend, limited studies have explored how teachers read their national mathematics curriculum documents and make sense of the competency-oriented reform messages present in these documents. This study investigated the patterns of teachers’ reading of the competency-oriented national mathematics curriculum documents and how the reading relates to the teachers’ sense-making of the reform messages in the documents. Participants included 18 in-service mathematics teachers who took part in a graduate course designed to support interpreting the recently revised competency-oriented national mathematics curriculum documents in Korea. Content analysis of the teachers’ writings regarding their interpretations of the documents revealed three types of reading: identifying , clarifying , and extending competency-oriented curriculum messages. Reading accompanied by ‘clarifying’ formed a dialogic relationship between the teachers and the curriculum, leading to accommodation of competency-oriented messages. Conversely, reading accompanied by ‘identifying’ but without ‘clarifying’ led to a monologic relationship between the teachers and the curriculum, resulting in the assimilation of competency-oriented messages. We conclude by suggesting that teachers’ nuanced interpretations of competency-oriented national mathematics curriculum documents may contribute to professionalism in handling the curriculum.
