Global Teaching InSights: A Video Study of Teaching
... To date, there are at least two large-scale classroom observation studies aimed at investigating variations in teaching quality across education contexts. The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Video Study, currently known as Global Teaching Insights Video Study, used the Global Teaching Insight (GTI) observation instrument to study teaching in mathematics classrooms across eight education contexts including Chile, Colombia, England (UK), Germany, Japan, Spain, Mexico, and China (OECD, 2020). A further study investigated effective teaching behavior using the Comparative Analysis of Learning and Teaching (ICALT; van de Grift, 2007) in natural classroom settings across school subjects and multiple contexts, including the Netherlands, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, South Africa, and Hong Kong SAR, China . ...
... Whilst all of these tools differ in structure, theoretical underpinning and implementation techniques, they do share some concepts and characteristics; that is that they are based in the tradition of teaching and teacher effectiveness research and recognized as being measures of effective teaching behavior van de Grift et al., 2017;OECD, 2020;World Bank, 2022). In addition to more quantitative classroom observation tools, classroom observations based on qualitatively driven frameworks also exist. ...
... GTI captures effective teaching behavior in terms of three generic domains including: Classroom Management, Social-emotional Support, and Instruction. The Instruction domain is further divided into three subdomains including Discourse, Quality of Subject Matter, and Student Cognitive Engagement (OECD, 2020). This large-scale study offers general insights into differences in mathematics classroom practices across the eight education contexts. ...
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to examine measurement invariance in observer scoring of effective teaching behavior in three secondary education contexts–the Netherlands, England, and the United States. It also aimed to describe what effective teaching behavior looks like in secondary education across the three education contexts.
Methods
A uniform observation measure called International Comparative Analysis of Learning and Teaching (ICALT) was used to observe teachers.
Results
Results revealed that the hypothesized factor structure of effective teaching behavior was confirmed for the Dutch and English data, but not for the US data. Teachers in the Netherlands showed higher levels of more basic teaching behaviors, but lower levels of more complex teaching behaviors, compared to teachers in England.
Discussion
Implications of the findings are discussed.
... The ObsSys also contains a set of procedures (e.g., rater training and monitoring, scoring guidelines, guidelines for sampling instructional practice) that facilitate the broad adoption and use of the ObsSys. Due to their systematic way of capturing facets of teaching and relative ease of use, ObsSys have been identified as a useful tool across a number of purposes, including examining the relationship between teaching and learning (e.g., White, 2018;Bacher-Hicks et al., 2019;Blazar et al., 2017;Lynch et al., 2017;OECD, 2020;Reddy et al., 2019); comparing enacted instruction across settings (e.g., Martinez et al., 2016;Maulana et al., 2019Maulana et al., , 2020OECD, 2020;Praetorius et al., 2019); and providing feedback to teachers (e.g., Kimball, 2002;Kraft & Hill, 2020;Muijs et al., 2018;Steinberg & Sartain, 2015;van der Lans et al., 2018). ...
... The ObsSys also contains a set of procedures (e.g., rater training and monitoring, scoring guidelines, guidelines for sampling instructional practice) that facilitate the broad adoption and use of the ObsSys. Due to their systematic way of capturing facets of teaching and relative ease of use, ObsSys have been identified as a useful tool across a number of purposes, including examining the relationship between teaching and learning (e.g., White, 2018;Bacher-Hicks et al., 2019;Blazar et al., 2017;Lynch et al., 2017;OECD, 2020;Reddy et al., 2019); comparing enacted instruction across settings (e.g., Martinez et al., 2016;Maulana et al., 2019Maulana et al., , 2020OECD, 2020;Praetorius et al., 2019); and providing feedback to teachers (e.g., Kimball, 2002;Kraft & Hill, 2020;Muijs et al., 2018;Steinberg & Sartain, 2015;van der Lans et al., 2018). ...
... The second type of moderation is when the instructional context moderates the relationship between teaching and learning. In this scenario, common practices of estimating average levels of teaching quality across a period of time (e.g., Kane et al., 2012, OECD, 2020 provide misleading results because they ignore the moderation (Fairchild & MacKinnon, 2009). The proposed alternative of aligning segments with the instructional context allows for moderation analyses. ...
There is a growing use of standardized observation systems to directly measure teaching quality in classrooms. These systems are based on conceptual understandings of teaching that lead to carefully operationalized rubrics that decompose teaching quality into a number of distinct dimensions. In this paper, we argue that measurement and analysis choices used by observation systems may not fully align with the conceptual understandings of teaching upon which observation systems are based. We discuss three key assumptions that undergird many views of teaching quality and highlight how common analytical approaches violate these assumptions, proposing alternative analytical approaches that would better conform to the conceptual understandings of teaching quality. We end with a discussion of the importance of carefully aligning conceptual understandings with measurement approaches.
... Our study used data from the large multi-country TALIS Global Teaching InSights study (OECD, 2020). A mathematics teaching unit on the topic of quadratic equations lasting several weeks was examined in eight different countries, with assessments of teaching quality at two measurement points, both before and after the unit. 1 Within the framework of our study, we selected dimensions of teaching quality (clarity of teaching, cognitive engagement, autonomy support, classroom management) that (a) were surveyed at both measurement timepoints and had an acceptable reliability according to the technical documentation (Mihaly et al., 2021), and (b) covered different aspects of classroom instruction. ...
... This study uses student and teacher surveys from the TALIS Global Teaching InSights study (OECD, 2020), which includes data from Chile, Colombia, England, Germany, Japan, Spain, Mexico, and Shanghai (for more detailed information on the regions surveyed, see OECD, 2020). It surveyed teaching quality perceptions of N = 19,659 secondary school students and their N = 679 math teachers (between 50 and 103 per country) at two measurement timepoints before and after a teaching unit on quadratic equations lasting 6 to 13 lessons (depending on national curriculum standards; . ...
Background: Students attending the same class can vary greatly in their perceptions of
the teaching quality of the same lessons with the same teacher; however, the current
understanding of heterogeneity in students’ perceptions of teaching quality, its sources, and
implications remains limited.
Aims: This study investigated whether heterogeneity in students’ perceptions of
teaching quality within classes may indicate that the teacher’s instruction is not equally
adaptive for all students.
Sample: We used longitudinal data from the TALIS Global Teaching InSights study
(N = 19,659 students, N = 679 mathematics teachers, across eight countries).
Methods: We ran multigroup latent change score models to examine the effect of
increases in student- and teacher-reported adaptive teaching on changes in (a) student-rated
teaching quality (clarity of instruction, autonomy support, cognitive engagement, and
classroom disruptions) and, importantly, (b) changes in heterogeneity in students’ perceptions
of these dimensions.
Results: Increases in adaptive teaching were associated with more positive and less
heterogenous perceptions of clarity and autonomy support within classes. Increases in
adaptive teaching predicted higher levels of cognitive engagement but did not significantly
predict heterogeneity in students’ perceptions of cognitive engagement. Increases in adaptive
teaching were linked to less classroom disruptions and more heterogeneous perceptions of
disruptions within classes.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that adaptive teaching can explain the extent of
heterogeneity in students’ perceptions of several teaching quality dimensions. This
underscores the substantive value of considering heterogeneity in student perceptions as a
meaningful construct.
... Moreover, in recent years, in recognition of the multidimensional nature of teaching-learning processes (e.g., Blazar & Kraft, 2017), a number of research approaches have found that the practices adopted by teachers have an impact that extends beyond the cognitive outcomes attained by their students (e.g., Blazar & Kraft, 2017;OECD, 2021aOECD, , 2021bPianta & Hamre, 2009). Several social-emotional outcomes, including students' academic beliefs, motivation, performance, and self-esteem, have been observed to be influenced by what students experience in school with their teachers (e.g., du Mérac et al., 2022;Elliot et al., 2017;Hamre & Pianta, 2006;OECD, 2020OECD, , 2021aOECD, , 2021bRoorda et al., 2011;Wagner et al., 2018;Wentzel, 1999). Specifically, it has been suggested that this social relationship provides students with helpful information not only about themselves, but also about what they need to successfully adapt to academic environments (Muijs et al., 2014;Ryan & Deci, 2020;Wentzel, 1999;Zandvliet et PsyHub al., 2014). ...
... In fact, the Sociometer Theory demonstrated that self-esteem, defined as a global estimation of one's own personal value (MacDonald & Leary, 2012), is primarily determined by the nature and quality of the social context in which people are embedded. Numerous school-based studies have found that positive relationships with teachers -key members of the microsystem into which students are embedded (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006;du Mérac et al., 2022) -are associated with a variety of psychological and social well-being indicators (Blazar & Kraft, 2017 ;Elliot et al., 2017;Hamre & Pianta, 2006;OECD, 2020OECD, , 2021aOECD, , 2021bPianta & Hamre, 2009;Roorda et al., 2011;Wagner et al., 2018;Wentzel, 1999). However, few studies have examined the implications of this component of school climate on students' future expectations (e.g., Lindstrom-Johnson et al., 2016;Smith et al., 2016). ...
School climate has long been recognized as a protective factor for the well-being of children and adolescents. Research has demonstrated that learning environments based on positive relationships among various social actors (students, teachers, and parents) are essential for improving students' global self-evaluations and fostering their positive adaptation. However, few studies have examined the role of teachers in these dimensions. To overcome this limitation in the literature, particularly in the Italian context, this study investigated the effect of the quality of the teacher-student relationship on students' self-esteem and perceived likelihood of future success and achievement of career goals. The study included a sample of 287 high school students. We tested a mediation model in which the quality of the teacher-student relationship was entered as an independent variable, students' self-esteem was entered as a mediating variable, and students' future expectations were entered as a dependent variable. The results indicated the presence of total mediation: positive teacher-student relationships were positively associated with students' self-esteem, which in turn had a positive association with students' future expectations. The study emphasizes that teachers' social-relational skills are a crucial aspect of their professionalism and are associated with the well-being of their students.
... Studies have shown that setting goals at the beginning of lessons is a common practice (OECD, 2019;OECD, 2020). Stating the purpose of a lesson in a clear and coherent way is an important instructional condition for students to be able to cognitively engage in learning tasks and is important for their achievement (Seidel et al., 2005). ...
... To some extent, feedback is dependent on a clear purpose in a lesson since it is vital for students to know what they are expected to learn as well as how they can learn it. Feedback is, therefore, used to help students achieve the goals related to the set purpose (Hattie & Clarke, 2019;OECD, 2020). In addition, it can be used to modify teaching and adapt to students' needs; as such, feedback is included in the teaching itself and supports learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998). ...
The aim of the study was to provide insight into the quality of teaching in Icelandic lower-secondary schools, specifically how teachers use feedback in their teaching and whether the purpose of lessons is stated and clear. The data comprise 75 language arts and mathematics lessons that were video recorded in 10 schools. The data were analysed according to the PLATO protocol, a standardized observation instrument for quality teaching, and representative examples of clear purpose and constructive feedback from the data are presented for context. The study's findings indicate limited evidence of clear purpose and quality feedback to students.
... These observations typically involve video recordings of lessons, which are then evaluated using pre-defined observation manuals designed to estimate the 'quality' of teaching across various pre-defined dimensions. On an international level, numerous different observation manuals are used (e.g., Pianta and Hamre 2009;Grossman et al. 2013;OECD 2020). These instruments tend to aggregate different subdimensions, which describe specific behaviours or actions, into overarching dimensions. ...
This contribution proposes a respecified concept of teaching quality, grounding it in a praxeological paradigm of classroom research. We argue that, when addressing teaching quality, the complex interactive relations between teaching and learning as social practices should be taken into account. The notion of teaching quality from within that we discuss develops two arguments: 1) the analysis should necessitate considering the embedded norms and objectives inherent in teaching and learning practices as an empirical basis for making judgments about teaching quality, and 2) the analytical focus must be placed on the orientation of classroom practices towards enabling subject-specific learning , which we argue rests at the heart of teaching quality.
... Í seinni tíð hafa rannsakendur beint sjónum að því að setja fram kenningar um kennslu og gaeði hennar (Praetorius og Charalambous, 2023). Þá hafa rannsakendur beitt kerfisbundnum aðferðum við að meta gaeði kennslu í mörgum löndum í senn, ýmist með beinu áhorfi eða í gegnum myndbandsupptökur af kennslustundum (Jóhann Örn Sigurjónsson, 2023b;OECD, 2020). Árið 2018 hófst viðamikil gagnasöfnun í grunnskólum á Norðurlöndum á vegum rannsóknarseturs sem bar heitið Quality in Nordic Teaching (QUINT). ...
Hugsandi skólastofa (e. thinking classroom) er kennslunálgun sem snýst um að skapa rými þar sem nemendur vinna saman að verkefnum sem eru hönnuð til að styðja nemendur við að öðlast skilning á nýjum hugtökum og hugmyndum með samræðum. Í þessari rannsókn var fylgst með kennslu eins stærðfræðikennara í íslenskum framhaldsskóla. Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að veita kennaranum endurgjöf á gæði eigin kennslu þegar kennt er eftir hugmyndafræði hugsandi skólastofu og veita innsýn í sjálfsrýni hans um niðurstöðurnar. Gögnum var safnað með hljóðupptökum og áhorfi í þremur kennslustundum þar sem einum nemendahóp var fylgt eftir í eina kennsluviku. Gæði kennslunnar voru metin út frá greiningarrammanum PLATO fyrir yfirþættina faglegar kröfur (þ.e. samræður í skólastofunni og vitsmunaleg áskorun) og stigskiptan stuðning (þ.e. sýnikennsla, kennsla námsaðferða og endurgjöf). Helstu niðurstöður voru að í kennslustundunum voru faglegar kröfur almennt metnar á efri þrepum á meðan undirþættir stigskipts stuðnings voru metnir á bæði efri og neðri þrepum. Dæmi voru um sýnikennslu og kennslu námsaðferða á efsta þrepi, en endurgjöf var aldrei metin á efsta þrepi. Niðurstöðurnar sýna fram á að í íslensku samhengi er hægt að nota aðferðir hugsandi skólastofu til að búa til menningu þar sem nemendur vinna í sameiningu að krefjandi viðfangsefnum sem reyna á greinandi hugsun. Kennari hefur svigrúm til að biðja um rökstuðning og útskýringar. Það gefur nemendum tækifæri til að dýpka skilning sinn á verkefninu og lausnaferlinu. Samræður byggja á svörum nemenda og hafa þau tækifæri til að útskýra, segja frá og beita virkri hlustun. Hugsandi skólastofa virðist gefa tækifæri til að veita nemendum endurgjöf sem kennarinn hefði þó getað nýtt sér betur. Niðurstöður gefa einnig til kynna að hópumræða eftir vinnu og glímu nemenda við stærðfræðihugtök skapi aðstæður til sýnikennslu á efstu þrepum og sé heppilegri heldur en að hugtökin séu kynnt fyrir nemendum áður en þau vinna með þau
... Several considerations can be drawn from these findings. First, they confirm the abundant evidence from psychological research on educational contexts that the quality of TSR has a profound impact beyond the cognitive domain, influencing various socio-emotional outcomes and, more generally, students' psychological well-being (Blazar & Kraft, 2017;OECD, 2020OECD, , 2021aOECD, , 2021bRoorda et al., 2017). Furthermore, our findings suggest that ES mainly shapes social relationships with peers in the classroom, which in turn are related to students' adjustment in school and, in particular, to their intentions to drop out. ...
The present study addressed an area of research not yet sufficiently investigated: the environmental sensitivity trait in relation to perceived marginalization in the classroom, dropout intentions, and the quality of teacher-student relationship. Adopting a psychosocial perspective and based on a single study survey with a group of Italian secondary school students, we applied a moderated mediation model. The aim was to determine whether environmental sensitivity was indirectly related to students’ dropout intentions via perceived classroom marginality. Specifically, we proposed that the quality of the teacher-student relationship could act as a protective factor for the well-being of highly sensitive students and, therefore, moderate the relationships between environmental sensitivity and both marginality and dropout intentions. Our research findings partially confirmed these initial hypotheses. An indirect relationship between environmental sensitivity and dropout intentions through marginality was only found when the quality of the teacher-student relationship was low. These findings suggest that positive teacher-student relationship can have a buffering effect, reducing the risk of marginalization for highly sensitive students and thus potentially reducing the risk of early school leaving. Conversely, teacher-student relationship did not moderate the relationship between environmental sensitivity and dropout intentions. Considering these findings, we discuss implications for emerging school-based research on environmental sensitivity and offer insights into potential interventions to enhance highly sensitive students’ well-being and academic trajectories.
... Siguiendo la tendencia internacional, desde 2003 la grabación y la observación estandarizada de videos de clases son elementos fundamentales del portafolio generado en el contexto de la evaluación nacional del profesorado chileno (Manzi et al., 2011). En esta misma línea, Chile participó en el primer estudio videográfico TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Study) de la OECD, que condujo a la generación de la plataforma y el repositorio digital Global Teaching Insights (OECD, 2020). ...
La observación de aula es una práctica fundamental en la formación y el ejercicio de la profesión docente que permite procesos sistemáticos de evaluación, retroalimentación y reflexión individual y colectiva en torno a la praxis pedagógica. Aunque las tecnologías digitales han expandido enormemente las posibilidades de dicha práctica más allá de la presencialidad, por ejemplo, mediante el uso de plataformas y videos de clases, sus supuestos teóricos han sufrido, en lo medular, modificaciones más bien menores. El presente artículo problematiza la observación de aula en su forma convencional y estandarizada tomando como ejemplo su desarrollo en la investigación educativa en Chile. Se exponen los fundamentos teóricos de una aproximación empírica cualitativa de orientación fenomenológica a la observación. Además, se aborda la experiencia de su operacionalización realizada en el marco de un taller de observación de videos de clases, en el que participaron estudiantes y egresadas de pedagogía de una universidad chilena. Con la repetición continua de cuatro pasos metódicos (descripción, reducción, validación intersubjetiva, variación), la aproximación fenomenológica es capaz de: 1) replantear la observación de aula convencional limitada a la aplicación de criterios, pautas, protocolos o rúbricas dadas de antemano; 2) posibilitar una reflexión crítica de las experiencias previas y los sesgos de quien observa; 3) abrir la experiencia de observación a la contingencia y a la particularidad de acontecimientos tácitos u obviados en situaciones pedagógicas observadas. Así, esta aproximación supone ejercitar la mirada pedagógica dentro y fuera del aula, siendo factible de implementación en procesos de formación inicial docente.
... Many items in the TALIS Video Study questionnaire were based on previous TALIS and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies (OECD, 2020;Praetorius et al., 2020 b ). The concrete item wordings of the assessed constructs are shown in Appendix A. Each item was assessed using a four-point Likert scale. ...
The Three Basic Dimensions (TBD) model, the leading model of teaching quality in German-speaking countries, theorizes three mediation paths for the effect of teaching quality on student outcomes. However, the existence of these paths and their effects have largely not been empirically tested. This study investigated the mediating role of depth-of-processing, time-on-task, and need satisfaction between student-rated teaching quality and students’ mathematics achievement and interest, expanding the TBD model to include mediation paths suggested by theories of motivation, cognition, and effort. Data from the TALIS Video Study Germany, comprising 958 secondary school students in 41 classrooms, were used to run multilevel longitudinal and correlational mediation analyses. The results found mediation effects only at the student level; there were no mediating effects at the classroom level. Not all of the hypothetical relationships thought to exist between the mediators and achievement and interest outcomes were confirmed. Specifically, at the student level, we found that time-on-task predicted student interest and depth of processing predicted student achievement, but none of the other hypothesized relationships were observed. The conceptual sequence of the variables, the choice of correlational vs. longitudinal evidence, and the level of analysis were all shown to have an impact on the results. The study thus confirms some of the assumptions of the TBD model, identifies new paths between teaching quality and student outcomes, and provides suggestions for how to proceed with the further investigation of a model which should be expanded and empirically tested.
... Modern approaches arising from this tradition have come to be called observation systems (ObsSys). ObsSys are used in many ways, including comparing enacted instruction across settings (e.g., Martinez et al., 2016;OECD, 2020;Praetorius et al., 2019), providing feedback to teachers (e.g., Cohen et al., 2016;Kraft & Hill, 2020), and teacher evaluation (e.g., Kraft & Gilmour, 2017;Steinberg & Donaldson, 2016). Recent work on ObsSys highlights several challenges that call into question the appropriateness of these uses, including critiques of the lack of conceptualization of teaching (e.g., Charalambous & Praetorius 2020), mismatches between measurement approaches and underlying conceptualizations of teaching quality (e.g., and high rater error (e.g., Bell et al., 2014). ...
Scores from observational measures of teaching have recently been put to many uses within school systems, including communicating a standard of practice and providing teacher feedback, identifying teachers for professional development, monitoring system equity, and making employment decisions. In each of these uses, observation scores are interpreted as representing some aspect of the enacted instruction or teachers’ capacity to enact instruction, as seen through the observation systems lens for understanding teaching quality. The quality of these interpretations, or the extent to which observation scores are composed of a signal that accurately reflects the interpretation, has important implications for the overall validity of uses of observation systems. Starting from an explicit conceptualization of instruction, this paper combines generalizability theory and hierarchical linear modelling approaches to decompose observation scores to explore the extent to which scores from observation systems are composed of signal, error, and bias across four different uses (i.e., teacher feedback, professional development, monitoring system equity, and employment decisions) of scores. We show that the quality of observation scores may depend more on what scores are interpreted as representing (i.e., the proposed use) than on the specific observation rubric being used. Further, we show that rater errors and biases are a major threat to any attempt to interpret observation scores as capturing the observation system’s understanding of teaching quality. We discuss implications for using scores from observation systems.
... In school, tasks that can be solved using schematic calculations are prevalent (De Guzman et al., 1998). Empirical projects like COACTIV (Cognitive Activation in the Mathematics Classroom and Professional Competence of Teachers) and TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) showed that cognitively demanding tasks are only seldomly implemented in mathematics high school classrooms in Germany as well as in other countries (Jordan et al., 2008;OECD, 2020). In particular, Engelbrecht (2010, p. 143) stated that "most students' perception of being successful in mathematics in school does not involve much inquiry but mostly just the application of different methods". ...
The transition from school to university mathematics is a challenging process for many students, which is reflected in high dropout rates during the first year at university. Using mediation analysis, we want to shed light on the role of students' attitudes towards mathematics especially their interest in mathematics and their mathematical self-concept-for early dropout and investigate the underlying mechanisms for the relations between attitudes and dropout. Informed by frameworks of person-environment-fit and results from educational psychology, we consider satisfaction with one's studies and achievement as potential mediators, influencing the relations between attitudes and early dropout. Our results within a sample of 274 first-year students, enrolled in a pure mathematics or a teacher education program at a German university, show that interest in university mathematics and mathematical self-concept are associated with less risk to drop out. In the case of interest , this relation is mediated by students' satisfaction, and in the case of self-concept, this relation is mediated by satisfaction and achievement. Based on these results, we discuss how to support students during the transition from school to university mathematics in order to prevent early dropout.
This article presents a scoping review of the recent body of cross-national comparative studies in mathematics education from 2014–2023. Following qualitative content analysis of the full texts of 286 journal articles based on a deductive–inductive coding procedure, we identified four main themes: 1) curriculum and textbooks, 2) mathematics teacher education, 3) student mathematics learning, and 4) classroom practices. We first present a descriptive analysis of the general characteristics of the reviewed studies, including the research methods used, target school years, and geographic locations, before discussing the details of the four themes. We also suggest future research directions for each theme.
Research has highlighted many complexities in the measurement of teaching quality that might explain the weak and inconsistent effects of teaching on learning. We introduce a lens model framework that connects both the conceptualized construct and the measured construct (i.e., scores) to teachers’ actual teaching in the classroom. This model helps researchers to carefully consider the extent to which teaching-quality scores represent the conceptualized construct (i.e., construct validity) and provides a framework for considering various dilemmas that arise when measuring teaching quality. We use the lens model to explore three dilemmas: (1) limitations in the availability and accessibility of cues that characterize constructs, (2) the variability of cues across instructional settings, and (3) the alignment of the unit of measurement and the unit of the construct. We provide guidance and suggestions for managing these dilemmas, which we hope will provide guidance for researchers seeking to measure teaching quality.
The text addresses the healthy handling of children’s emotions in the school
context. It highlights the importance of emotions as expressions of needs and
describes how adults can positively influence children’s behaviour through a
better understanding of emotions, particularly through clarifying their own
meta-emotions. The particularly effective approach of emotion coaching is presented,
with five key steps explained: early recognition of emotions, using them
as opportunities for connection, empathy, finding words for the emotions, and
solving problems together. The text emphasizes that a reflective and empathetic
approach to emotions promotes children’s emotional development and provides
relief for both the child and the adults in the school environment.
Teacher collaboration is increasingly recognized as a key component of effective instruction and student learning. However, limited research has explored how this collaboration indirectly shapes student outcomes through its influence on teaching practices—especially within mathematics education and across different national contexts. This study addresses this gap by examining the mediating role of teaching practices in the relationship between teacher collaboration and student mathematics achievement, using data from the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Global Teaching Insights (GTI) study. A structural equation modeling approach was employed to compare these relationships in Shanghai and England. The results indicate that teacher collaboration is positively associated with student achievement in mathematics, primarily through its indirect influence on teaching practices. Notably, the strength of this mediated relationship was greater in the England sample. These findings highlight the importance of fostering collaborative professional environments and offer cross-national insights into how collaborative practices can support student learning through enhanced instruction.
This paper interprets the theories of Vygotsky through the lenses of creativity in education and learning design using technology. It is important to address the role of the teacher in today’s technology-enhanced classrooms. This initiative has not been addressed, and it may lead to new ways of thinking about creativity in today’s teaching profession. Teachers’ roles have shifted from instructors to designers of effective scenarios for technology-enhanced learning. In this context, teachers need to be able to creatively connect pedagogy, content, and technology in learning design. The work of Vygotsky emphasizes the role of the teacher when assessing the learner’s developmental level, by tailoring the teaching so that it falls within the zone of proximal development. The procedure leads to new knowledge, indicating a creative process. Language as a tool now has new means to be transmitted—new technologies. Considering these connections, questions need to be re-addressed: What is the connection between creativity and the zone of proximal development? How has the learning design field shifted the role of the teacher and how does this relate to (1) the theory of cognitive development from a constructivist perspective and (2) the theory of the zone of proximal development? What are the connections between the new role of the teacher as a designer with creativity and technology in the zone of proximal development? In this paper, we synthesize the knowledge between creativity in learning design using technology and Vygotsky’s theories, concluding with an interpretation of how the teacher can be assisted by his theories and synchronous technologies in creative learning design.
This text examines classroom management as a critical approach to fostering an effective and disruption-free learning environment, particularly in inclusive education contexts. It encompasses strategies aimed at promoting academic and social learning, reducing behavioural issues, and enhancing student motivation.
Empirical studies demonstrate that effective classroom management is positively correlated with learning outcomes, socio-emotional development, and teacher well-being. The authors emphasize the importance of proactive measures such as clear rules, structured lessons, and positive teacher-student relationships. Reactive strategies for addressing disruptions are also discussed. A psychodynamic perspective offers additional insights by considering unconscious processes and emotional dynamics that influence behaviour. While classroom management is recognized as a foundation for addressing behavioural issues, it is criticized for insufficiently addressing complex problems and socio-emotional factors. Combining the behaviourally oriented classroom management with other approaches, such as psychodynamic methodologies, is recommended to provide comprehensive support for all students.
Background
Much is known about the positive effects of teachers' self‐efficacy on instruction and student outcomes, but the processes underlying these relations are unknown.
Aims
We aimed to examine the effects of teacher self‐efficacy for student engagement (TSESE) before a lesson on teachers' nonverbal immediacy (NVI) and their enthusiastic teaching. Furthermore, we examined how NVI and enthusiastic teaching affected students' interest after the lesson, controlling for prior interest.
Sample
We used data from the German TALIS video study in the context of the international TALIS study. The study included 50 teachers (46% women) and their 1140 students (53% girls; age M = 15 years).
Methods
We developed a computational model to assess teachers' NVI on classroom video data. Using a multimodal longitudinal approach, we tested sequential processes with multilevel path models.
Results
TSESE before the lesson (Time 1) was positively and significantly related to teachers' NVI during the lesson (Time 2). Teachers' NVI (Time 2) was positively related to class‐level enthusiastic teaching behaviours, reported after the lesson (Time 3). Student‐reported enthusiastic teaching behaviours (Time 3) were significantly and positively associated with students' interest (Time 3) when controlling for students' prior interest (Time 1). Students' interest after the lesson (Time 3) was significantly and positively related to students' interest 6 weeks later (Time 4).
Conclusions
Nonverbal behaviours of the teacher are central to classroom instruction by promoting students' perceptions of the teachers' enthusiastic teaching behaviours.
Opportunities to learn related to the use of quantitative reasoning to solve higher-order real-world applications that reflect the messy nature of the world are scarce and vary across countries. Those experiences are essential to the development of quantitative literacy. This literacy, like that related to language, is critical for all children. To examine this issue, 19 countries were involved in a study that analyzed the degree of emphasis placed on quantitative literacy in their curriculum standards. Most countries have such policies but vary appreciably regarding their degree of emphasis. Furthermore, the countries’ 8th grade textbooks were analyzed to determine the degree to which those books provided opportunities to develop quantitative literacy. The results identified a major policy-practice gap.
This chapter addresses the questions of how to explore the knowledge and skills teachers need for effectively integrating technology in their teaching in an international study. It begins by underlining the importance of including technology-related knowledge in an assessment of teachers' pedagogical knowledge for teaching in the 21st century. Then, it outlines the type of knowledge and skills teachers need for effectively integrating technology in their teaching and how these can be measured across countries. Drawing on previous research, different measurement approaches will be discussed. Despite a focus on teacher knowledge, the chapter includes suggestions for exploring teacher knowledge in the broader context of teachers' overall conditions, attitudes, and application of technology in teaching practice. 3 Teachers' technology-related knowledge for 21st century teaching 43 TEACHING AS A KNOWLEDGE PROFESSION © OECD 2021
What students are learning in mathematics classrooms can be analysed from a wide range of perspectives, focusing on the mathematical content, the mathematical processes or the mathematical activities. There is also a social dimension intertwined with this cognitive dimension that focuses on what mathematical activities in particular are established as socio-mathematical norms within a classroom. It is through these norms that students learn what it is to both learn mathematics and what it means to do mathematics. In this article I add a further epistemic dimension to illustrate how these socio-mathematical norms are co-constructed through interactions in a dynamic way. The analysis reported in this paper draws on video data of 65 lesson segments where students made their thinking explicit, taken from an original sample of 133 naturally occurring mathematics lessons with 81 teachers identified as including cognitively demanding mathematics. Using ethnomethodological conversation analysis and the epistemic dimensions of interaction initially outlined by Heritage and colleagues, a fine-grained sequential analysis of the interactions including students’ detailed contributions around cognitively demanding activities within these lessons illustrates how epistemic access, primacy and responsibilities are continually negotiated in interaction. Students’ rights to make knowledge claims or obligations to demonstrate their knowledge are negotiated in ways that influence students’ and teachers’ epistemic authority and stance. The analysis shows how the cognitive and social dimensions are intertwined both at an individual level but also at the classroom level that establish and reinforce the norms around the access and primacy of ideas and knowledge in interaction. These epistemic negotiations have consequences on the nature of mathematical activities that students experience and participate in, and subsequently their opportunities to learn mathematics.
Classroom observation rubrics are a widely adopted tool for measuring the quality of teaching and provide stable conceptualisations of teaching quality that facilitate empirical research. Here, we present four statistical approaches for analysing data from classroom observations: Factor analysis, Rasch modelling, latent class or profile analysis, and formative measurement models. Each statistical model conceptualises the latent variable differently, which may or may not align with the observation rubric’s conceptualisation of teaching quality. We discuss the differences across these models, focusing on the alignment between the rubric’s conceptualisation of teaching quality and the model’s modelling of the latent variable. We discuss the need to align model selection with observation rubric so that the measured teaching quality reflects the theoretically conceptualised teaching quality.
This article addresses the theme of assessment through the prism of two different approaches to the international PISA assessment. The first approach focuses on the understanding and solving of PISA science items by students of different academic performance and socio-economic and cultural levels in the context of France. In the second approach, PISA is used to expose how mathematics didactics, essentially equipped by the theory of didactic situations and the anthropological theory of didactics, allows to question the notion of evaluation considered as a process and is situated in the context of French-speaking Belgium. The discussion is structured around three points: the epistemological depth of the assessment process, assessment as a tool for analysis and understanding in order to better deal with the heterogeneity of learners, and the place of teachers within the assessment process.
This study examined the alignment and predictive power of instructional practices as reported by teachers, students, and external raters by using the Shanghai data that included 85 teachers and 2,613 students who participated in the Global Teaching Insights study. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis along with ordinary least square regression indicate that the same four conceptual components including classroom discourse (e.g., allowing students to explain their ideas and engage in peer discussions), meaning-making (e.g., explaining why a mathematical procedure works), cognitive activation (e.g., encouraging students’ critical thinking in solving complex tasks), and clarity instruction (e.g., teachers’ giving clear explanation of subject matter) were identified in the instructional practices reported by teachers and their students. The cognitive activation factor in the data reported by teachers emerged as the most significant predictor of students’ post-test scores, whereas the classroom discourse factor in the data reported by students accounted for the largest portion of variance in students’ post-test scores. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that the alignment between ratings reported by students and external raters was the highest, and student ratings of their mathematics teachers’ instructional practices demonstrated the highest predictive power for students’ post-test scores. Results of this study provide important empirical evidence for the merit of cognitive activation and classroom discourse in mathematics teaching and inspire researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers to pay careful attention to student-reported instructional practices that can serve as a better source of data in measuring mathematics teaching quality.
Drawing upon and extending work undertaken by Silver and colleagues, in this chapter we bring together two fields, which have largely developed on parallel tracks: engaging students in mathematically challenging tasks and differentiating teaching to meet all students’ needs and readiness levels. By working at the intersection of these two lines of research, we attempt to understand the implications of this dual focus for teachers’ practice. We do so by discussing the entailments of working at the nexus of challenging tasks and differentiation in mathematics lessons during lesson planning and enactment (i.e., task launching, student autonomous work, and whole-class discussion). Unpacking teaching in this way offers insights to researchers and contributes to supporting teachers in addressing both excellence and equity in their teaching, two significant educational aspirations in several countries around the world.KeywordsChallenging tasksCognitive activationCognitive demandDifferentiationMathematicsTeaching entailmentsUnpacking teaching
Die empirische Unterrichtsforschung stellt Forschende vor zahlreiche Herausforderungen. Eine besondere Herausforderung besteht darin, dass wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse in hohem Maße von den Entscheidungen der Forschenden im Forschungsprozess abhängen – ein informiertes Vorgehen ist für jeden Schritt guter wissenschaftlicher Forschung fundamental. Ziel der kumulativen Dissertation ist es daher, aus einer Metaperspektive theoretisch-konzeptionelle Grundlagen und forschungsmethodische Fragen der Unterrichtsforschung zu reflektieren und dabei grundlegende Herausforderungen und Desiderate zu bearbeiten. Schwerpunkte werden durch die fünf Publikationen gesetzt, in denen ausgewählte Herausforderungen und Desiderate vertiefend behandelt werden.
Im Rahmentext der Dissertation wird zunächst der adressierte Forschungsgegenstand Unterrichtsqualität in seiner theoretisch-konzeptionellen Fundierung dargelegt. Dazu werden unterschiedliche Verständnisse von Unterrichtsqualität systematisch aufgearbeitet und weiterentwickelt. Zudem wird auf die Vielzahl konkurrierender Unterrichtsqualitätsmodelle verwiesen, wobei die Vorteile und Grenzen der Kombination mehrerer Modelle diskutiert werden. In der Dissertation und den zugehörigen Publikationen wird Unterrichtsqualität entsprechend des Modells der drei Basisdimensionen guten Unterrichts (3BD) konzeptualisiert. Dieses wird daher ausführlich erläutert, indem u. a. die Vorteile des Modells und der Stand der Forschung dargestellt werden.
Anschließend werden verschiedene forschungsmethodische Herausforderungen aufgezeigt, die mit einer adäquaten Operationalisierung der theoretisch fundierten Basisdimensionen (z. B. aufgrund der Notwendigkeit inferentieller Schlüsse und des fehlenden Fach- und Inhaltsbezugs) sowie mit einer angemessenen Interpretation der gewonnenen Daten (z. B. hinsichtlich der Vergleichbarkeit zwischen unterschiedlichen Kontexten wie Bildungssystemen) verbunden sind. Darüber hinaus werden verschiedene Entscheidungen bei der statistischen Modellierung der Wirkannahmen von Unterricht und deren Auswirkungen auf die geschätzten Effekte des Unterrichts aufgezeigt. Die Befunde zu den Wirkungen der 3BD werden zusammengefasst und eigene längsschnittliche Mehrebenenanalysen zu Wirkungen auf kognitive und motivationale Schüler*innen-Outcomes durchgeführt.
Ausgehend von den dargestellten und bearbeiteten Herausforderungen wird argumentiert, dass ein Ziel der empirischen Unterrichtsforschung darin bestehen sollte, transparente Entscheidungen und belastbare Interpretationen von Befunden zu fördern. Dienliche Hilfsmittel für Bildungsforschende und Personen der Bildungspraxis könnten Standards bei der Beurteilung von Evidenz sowie theoretisch präzise ausgearbeitete und empirisch umfangreicher evaluierte Unterrichtsqualitätsmodelle mit einer einheitlicheren Fachterminologie sein.
The articles in a special issue of this journal, Merits and Limitations of Researching Teaching Quality More Syner-gistically, grapple with the assertion that the field does not share a common language or structural decomposition of teaching and that the current range of frameworks and observation systems used by researchers jeopardizes the accumulation of knowledge in the field. We analyze these arguments from a socio-cultural perspective, theorizing that teaching and the improvement of teaching occur in socially situated contexts that give meaning to all research frameworks and measurement tools. Rather than asking whether a common framework of teaching might be useful, we ask when such a framework might be useful, when can such efforts be limiting, and why? Building on contemporary validity theory, we bring the role of context back into the current conversation. We suggest that while there are important affordances of a unified framework of teaching quality, such a framework will be unable to fully address some of the issues identified in this special issue. For practical, theoretical, empirical, and socio-cultural reasons, researchers will require multiple frameworks and associated observation systems to support the study and improvement of teaching across contexts.
This book chapter reports findings in a case study on the video clips of 97 STEM lessons at a local secondary school. The impact of Effective and inspiring teaching on student engagement in classrooms was explored using the same high-inference classroom observation instruments. Cluster analysis indicated that effective teaching dimensions tended to cluster together. However, inspiring teaching dimensions (i.e., Flexibility, Innovative teaching, and Teaching reflective thinking) tended to cluster with Teaching collaborative learning. While there was no subject difference for inspiring teaching practices, Mathematics significantly performed the best and Technology the worst in effective teaching practices. Multiple regression results indicated that both effective and inspiring teaching practices have a significant but moderate impact on learner engagement, but none showed significant effects on student engagement. In contrast, while the effective teaching dimension Professional knowledge and expectations positively affected overall teaching quality perceptions.
In this digital era, technology has entered every aspect of our life, including educational system. Computational thinking (CT) and programming are a relatively recent part of certain school curricula. The idea of CT was originated in 1950s, and the first usage of the term CT was by Papert in 1980; the notion/concept was refreshed by Wing in 2006. CT is the focus of attention for many researchers, such as Gadanidis , Namukasa, Kotsopoulos, Curzon, diSessa, Farris, Sengupta and so on ; they argued that using CT tools, ideas and activities in mathematics pedagogies and curricula contributes to learning in creative and imaginative ways. In this paper, the ways that students interact with their peers during CT and mathematical thinking activities are investigated in the context of an instrumental case study of 10 elementary students. Observational, interview, and reflection data collected during two workshops were analyzed to determine the ways in which the activities impacted students’ interacting and understanding. Students engaged in three CT activities: symmetry app, Scratch program, and Sphero robot. As a result, CT activities allow students to learn mathematical concepts better, when they are working with CT ideas and activities. This study was limited in its sampling as it only focused on primary grades 3 - 6 in a private school. For future studies, the researchers suggest conducting a study that will include public schools and involve tools for teaching mathematics concepts.
Zusammenfassung
Damit Lernende Gleichungen zielorientiert lösen können, sind Planungsprozesse notwendig. Planungsprozesse schließen die Evaluation von möglichen Lösungswegen mit ein und werden von Ausführungs- und Strukturierungsprozessen abgegrenzt. Das Planen von geeigneten Lösungswegen wird in der Literatur mit dem Begriff der Flexibilität verknüpft. Vergleiche von multiplen Lösungswegen haben sich für die Flexibilität als lernförderlich erwiesen. Um die Lernförderlichkeit der Vergleiche zu unterstützen, werden produktive Klassengespräche empfohlen, in denen die Gegenüberstellung der Lösungswege besprochen wird. Dieser Beitrag prüft, ob in Klassengesprächen zu Vergleichen von multiplen Lösungswegen Planungsprozesse häufiger thematisiert werden als beim Besprechen nur eines Lösungsweges und als beim Besprechen von multiplen Lösungswegen ohne Vergleich. Die Stichprobe der Inhaltsanalyse umfasst Klassengespräche aus 172 Lektionen und 43 Klassen (Jahrgangsstufe 9 und 10). Die statistische Analyse wird sowohl klassenübergreifend mit binär logistischen Regressionsmodellen durchgeführt als auch klassenspezifisch mit t‑Tests für paarweise verbundene Stichproben. Die Studie zeigt, dass beim Vergleichen von multiplen Lösungswegen etwa doppelt so häufig Planungsprozesse thematisiert werden. Zusätzlich wird dokumentiert, dass beim Lösen von Gleichungen Ausführungsprozesse am häufigsten besprochen werden.
Se presenta el proyecto Global Teaching InSights Video Study, de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos [OCDE], cuyo objetivo es potenciar la grabación y el análisis de sesiones de clases como herramienta de desarrollo profesional y de formación de docentes de matemáticas. Se describe el trabajo llevado a cabo por los autores coordinando grupos de trabajo que se encargaron de diseñar un estudio de caso basado en un vídeo de una clase real. La difusión pública de los vídeos producidos permite, además, abordar el diseño de investigaciones centradas en observación guiada de la práctica de la enseñanza de las matemáticas. Palabras clave: desarrollo profesional, estudio de caso, formación continua, vídeos de clases.
The Global Teaching InSights Video Study project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], whose objective is to promote the recording and analysis of classroom sessions as a tool for professional development and training of mathematics teachers, is presented. The work carried out by the authors coordinating work groups that oversaw the design of a case study based on a video of a real classroom is described. The public dissemination of the videos produced also allows to address the design of research focused on guided observation of the mathematics teaching practice.
Presenta-se o projeto Global Teaching InSights Video Study da Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico [OCDE], cujo objetivo é promover a gravação e análise das sessões de aula como ferramenta de desenvolvimento profissional e formação de professores de matemática. Descreve-se o trabalho realizado pelos autores coordenando grupos de trabalho que se encarregaram de desenhar um estudo de caso com base em um vídeo de uma aula real. A divulgação pública dos vídeos produzidos também permite abordar o
Students’ participation in whole-class discourse is an important feature of classroom learning. Within sociocultural research, two explanations for this connection can be emphasised: students’ engagement and teacherstudent verbal interaction. We suggest a video-based coding scheme that can be specifically connected with
each theoretical strand by distinguishing between student-guided and teacher-guided participation. The aim is to explore the conditions (student characteristics) and consequences (student learning) of both types of classroom participation. The results of two video studies with standardised pre- and post-assessments – one in secondary school mathematics (932 students, 40 classes) and one in primary school science (681 students, 35 classes) – emphasise both the relevance of students’ prior knowledge for participation in whole-class discourse and the role
of student-guided participation in learning.
DESCRIPTION
Science teaching practices have not been systematically reviewed in the scientific literature, and when they have been addressed, it has been in relation to the study of specific issues such as the implementation of pedagogical approaches, sequence design, the effects of training plans, etc. This chapter takes another view by focusing on practices and their characteristics, even if they are often the result of very different research perspectives. It thus reports the results of studies of these characteristics published in four major science education journals between 2015 and 2020. It is focused on teaching science in elementary, and middle school and physics in high school. More specifically, beyond descriptions and characterizations of practices as such, it takes stock of the relationships that practices have with student and teacher characteristics, with local or broader structures, with teacher training, with the resources available to teachers, or with the particular aspects of the taught content. The results show the great complexity and variety of science teaching practices, and allow us to understand the difficulty of grasping the expertise and ingenuity behind this human activity.
More than forty years ago, Dan Lortie famously lamented the lack of a common language with which to describe teaching and noted this scarcity as a key problem within studies of teaching and teacher professionalism. I argue that recent developments in video technology and supporting methodological designs have paved the way for a new generation of classroom studies. Today, large-scale classroom studies and targeted subject-specific studies have contributed to a renewed interest in classroom designs as lenses to shed light on how and why teaching and teaching matter. In this article, I summarize recent developments in classroom studies in terms of technologies, research design and analytical frameworks and discuss how these developments allow for integrative efforts and more programmatic research within studies of classroom teaching and learning, thus providing a platform for building a shared vocabulary for describing teaching. A key argument will be how video recordings nurture a new generation of generic and subject-specific classroom studies that enable us to systematically investigate key features of classroom teaching across subjects, grades, and learning environments.
The transition from school to university is a challenging process for many students which is reflected in high dropout and low examination success rates during the first year at university. Qualitative studies have found hints that students’ beliefs play an important role during the transition. Due to their dialectic nature with cognitive as well as affective valences, it is sensible to assume that beliefs influence rather cognitive and objective criteria of a successful transition such as exam achievement as well as subjective criteria like satisfaction that draw on affective sources. However, quantitative studies have been mostly focusing on the role of students’ beliefs for study achievement, neglecting possible effects on students’ satisfaction and actual dropout. In this contribution, I draw a more holistic picture of the effects of beliefs during the transition by analysing effects on students’ achievement, students’ satisfaction and students’ actual dropout behaviour. Data from over 600 first-year students in a longitudinal quantitative study show that dynamic beliefs (that emphasize the process character of mathematics and the usability of mathematics in everyday life and other disciplines) have a positive impact during the transition, while static beliefs (focusing on schematic aspects of mathematics) are problematic.
Classroom observations as lenses for studying and understanding features of teaching and learning processes hold a strong tradition in the educational sciences (see, for example, Brophy & Good, 1974; Callewaert & Nilsson, 1974; Flanders, 1970; Jackson, 1968, and Borgnakke, 1979; Klette, 1998, for Nordic studies). Currently, classroom observation design is a central part of educational researchers’ methodological repertoire for understanding instructional practices within and across different subjects and learning sites, thus providing a platform for comparative didactics (Caillot, 2007; Hudson & Meyer, 2011; Ligozat, 2011; Mercier et al., 2002; also see Ligozat, in this volume). The American ethnographer and classroom researcher Erickson (2006) identified the following traditional methods of observation studies targeted towards classroom learning: (i) discourse/interaction analyses, which are micro-analyses of language and communication; (ii) process/product approaches, which emphasize functional classroom interaction and activities; and (iii) teachers’ professional knowledge or pedagogic content knowledge, which is mainly on interaction and meaning-making of content. When subdividing this area of research into different school subjects; cultural, regional and linguistic traditions; and theoretical framings, we see a number of designs and frameworks used when aiming at analysing features of classroom teaching and learning. Today, classroom studies serve as the meeting ground for understanding teaching and learning processes from different approaches and perspectives. They diverse approaches capture different aspects of classroom learning such as interaction patterns, teachers’ use of scaffolding techniques, subject-specific aspects (i.e., how teachers represent a specific content or the quality of their explanations), and features of a supportive classroom climate. Despite voluminous research on classrooms, our knowledge so far is fragmented due to a multitude of single-case studies, across which it is hard to draw conclusions since the analytical framing and categories of the analyses used, as well as the contextual factors, differ substantially. In this chapter, I argue that efforts are needed to integrate the designs of classroom studies to serve as a platform for systematic investigation of key aspects of classroom teaching and learning. I refer to these integrated research efforts as ‘programmatic research’. As such the current chapter discusses methodologies for analysing teaching practices, and in a systematic way, arguing for how recent developments in observation designs—and especially improvements in observation instruments and development in video capture—have paved the way for a new area of comparative didactics.
The transition from school to university mathematics is a challenging process for many students. This phenomenon is reflected by high dropout rates from mathematics programs especially during the first year at university that may be related to the development of stu-dents' mathematical interest and self-concept. Taking a learning psychological perspective, it is a relevant question if all students have similar development patterns of these variables or if students who are at risk to drop out show an unfavorable development. Moreover, for didactical issues, it is of particular relevance which factors influence this development. Within a longitudinal study, 556 first-semester students stated their interest and self-concept at the beginning and the middle of the first semester; dropout was measured at the beginning of the second year. By using regression analyses, we found that the development of students' interest and self-concept is related to dropout. It seems that interest in university mathematics and mathematical self-concept of students, who dropped out, decreased significantly in contrast to the characteristics of students who continued their studies. In an exploratory follow-up study, we identified factors which probably influenced the development of students' self-concept by asking 18 students in a first-semester mathematics course "linear algebra" about learning situations in which they experienced the emergence or the decline of self-concept. Using qualitative content analysis, we found that most of these situations occurred when students worked on mathematical homework tasks or got crite-rial feedback on their solutions. Based on the presented results, we discuss implications for teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics.
Math modeling is a unique and powerful part of mathematics that is underutilized in contemporary classrooms. Teachers of all grade levels may utilize such modeling problems to better serve the students in their classrooms, with related analytical problem-solving activities that contribute to learners meeting the highest of learning standards. With a continued focus within mathematics education on critical thinking, creativity, disciplinary literacy and college/career readiness, math modeling is at the forefront of research-tested methods to develop these crucial skills. This is an important direction mathematics education that needs to go in order to prepare students for the future.
Which dimensions of instruction can be reliably captured using student perception surveys, is subject for debate. The aim of this study is to empirically explore the validity and limitations of two different measures of cognitive activation: systematic classroom observations and student perceptions. 34 video-recorded lessons from ten lower secondary mathematics teachers in Iceland were analysed using an observation system and compared to 217 responses to the Tripod student perception survey. The results indicate that for the cognitive activation dimension, the connection between observer ratings and student perceptions is weak, raising questions about the validity of different measures of instructional quality.
The growing interest in video research and new technologies for recording human interaction has stirred debates about intrusiveness and ‘reactivity’ understood as researcher-derived changes in subjects. In addition to a plethora of concepts referring to such effects in extant literature, different ontological and epistemological positions provide contrasting frameworks for interpreting and deciding on methodological guidelines. In this article we discuss these elements, that we have called ‘meta-methodological’, from the standpoints of experimental research, social-constructivism and scientific realism. We combine conceptual analysis and a literature review of video-studies in teaching in order to identify both possible traces of contesting beliefs and to provide a glance at different aspects of ‘reactivity’ that needs to be systematized in the ongoing debates. Whereas the methodological literature underline the importance of such effects, these are rarely reported in the reviewed video studies. Moreover, reactivity is seen as a minor problem in the latter, and we found few instances that validated the effects on the field and on the empirical conclusions. Our article ask for more transparency in field researchers’ judgment about reactivity and mitigating measures.
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