ThEMaT V
Examining an On-line, International Exchange Professional DevelopmentProgram for High School Teachers
The project studies the characteristics of the StoryCircles process of professional development and its potential opportunity for secondary mathematics teachers to learn through lesson-focused collaboration. In StoryCircles, teachers draw on each other’s knowledge to anticipate and design how a problem-based lesson could unfold. Their anticipations are then prototyped in storyboards to enable teachers to visualize and argue about various decisions a teacher could make along the timeline of the lesson. In this iteration of StoryCircles, teachers initially work together for one cycle to produce a first draft of a lesson storyboard which is then annotated by teams of secondary mathematics teachers—half of which are gathered from the United States and the other half gathered from four different partner countries (Canada, India, Philippines, South Africa). The annotations provide feedback to the original group of teachers as they engage in a second cycle—arguing about lesson decisions and contingencies and revising their first draft designs for the lesson. Because teaching is cultural, we hypothesize that both the nature and focus of the feedback provided by domestic and international teams will differ in terms of how they feed back to the authoring team. The project brings together researchers, professional development facilitators, and teacher educators across the U.S. and partner countries to examine the potential of StoryCircles for supporting teachers’ professional growth. We ask how the storyboards and annotations of storyboards serve as opportunities for teachers to learn within StoryCircles—reflecting critically on their own practice and seeing, in others’ contributions, alternative approaches to practice. We also ask what is the variability among the differently-sourced annotations on lessons and what do different annotations make available for teachers to learn.
Publications related to this project
| Title | Author(s) | Citation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investigating the Potential for the Annotation of Less Desirable Lessons to Serve as Low Floor/High Ceiling Tasks For Lesson-Centered Professional Development | Brown A, Jeon S, Herbst P, Schwarts G | Brown A., Jeon S., Herbst P., and Schwarts, G. (2024). Investigating the Potential for the Annotation of Less Desirable Lessons to Serve as Low Floor/High Ceiling Tasks For Lesson-Centered Professional Development. Paper presented at the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME), July 2024, Sydney, Australia | 2024 |
| Lesson-Centered Professional Development For Supporting Collaborative Cross-National Teacher Learning: Opportunities and Challenges | Brown A, Cao Y, Chan M.C.E, Clarke D, Fletcher A, Herbst P, Huget J, Jeon S, Kumar R, Peter-Koopi A, Mesiti C, Nivera G, Wang C, Zhang S | Brown A., Cao Y., Chan M.C.E, Clarke D., Fletcher A, Herbst P., Huget J., Jeon S., Kumar R., Peter-Koopi A., Mesiti C., Nivera G., Wang C., and Zhang S. (2024). Lesson-Centered Professional Development For Supporting Collaborative Cross-National Teacher Learning: Opportunities and Challenges. Working Group presented at the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME), July 2024, Sydney, Australia | 2024 |
| Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Justification For Sequencing Student Work | Jeon S, Brown A, Savuran R, Herbst P. | Jeon S., Brown A., Savuran R., and Herbst P. (2024). Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Justification For Sequencing Student Work. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA), November 2024, Cleveland, Ohio | 2024 |
| Illustrating a method for analyzing multimodal artifacts used in transactions of practice | Schwarts, G., Herbst, P., & Brown, A. M. | Schwarts, G., Herbst, P., & Brown, A. M. (2024). Illustrating a method for analyzing multimodal artifacts used in transactions of practice. In Evans, T., Marmur, O., Hunter, J., Leach, G., & Jhagroo, J. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 47th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 3, pp. 26 - 33). Auckland, New Zealand: PME | 2024 |
| What does it Mean for Geometry Teachers to Improve a Lesson? A Multimodal Analysis | Schwarts G Herbst P, Jeon S, Brown A | Schwarts, G., Herbst P., Jeon S., and Brown A., (2023). What does it Mean for Geometry Teachers to Improve a Lesson? A Multimodal Analysis. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA), October 2023, Reno, Nevada | 2023 |
| Examining an Online, International Exchange Professional Development Program for High School Teachers | Brown, A. & Herbst, P. | Brown, A. & Herbst, P. (2023). Examining an Online, International Exchange Professional Development Program for High School Teachers. Poster presented at 2023 DRK-12 PI Meeting Conference, Washington D.C. (DRK-12 PI, June 2023) | 2023 |
Kiril Bankov
University of Sofia
Kiril Bankov prepares future mathematics teachers as a professor of mathematics education at the University of Sofia and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in... Bulgaria. One of the main subjects that he teaches is the School Geometry for mathematics teachers. Prof. Bankov has great experience in international large-scale studies in mathematics education. For more than a decade he has been a member of the International Expert Committee (SMIRC) for TIMSS study. He also worked as a mathematics coordinator for the International Study Center of the Teacher Education and Development Study – Mathematics (TEDS-M) at Michigan State University (USA). Prof. Bankov has been involved in mathematics competitions in Bulgaria for more than 20 years as an author of contest problems and as a member of juries. He has written many articles, made presentations, and is a co-author of books on mathematics competitions, problem solving, work with mathematically gifted students, etc. Two of his papers in “Mathematical Gazette” were awarded as “Article of the Year”, for 1995 and for 1999. In 2014 he was the Chairperson of the European Baccalaureate Examining Board. Kiril Bankov was the President of the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions (WFNMC) from 2018 till 2022. He is the current representative for Bulgaria in the International Commission for Mathematical Instructions (ICMI).
Kristi Hineman
Macomb Intermediate School District
Ruchi S. Kumar
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Dr. Ruchi S. Kumar has worked in the space of preservice and in-service math teacher education for 9 years and has designed and taught several courses for math teachers... in India. She has published her research on mathematics teachers professional development in international journals and conferences.
Jason Gauthier
Allegan Area ESA
Dr. Jason Gauthier is currently the Mathematics Education Consultant for the Allegan Area ESA, a regional education service agency in southwest Michigan.... Dr. Gauthier has been in education for 18 years, first as a high school algebra teacher, then as a teaching assistant at a university, and now is in his 13th year in his current position. Dr. Gauthier has extensive experience in designing and leading professional learning for mathematics educators at the local, state, and national levels. He had the opportunity to serve on the board of directors of NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education, the premier mathematics education leadership organization in the United States and has served on the executive committee of state-level mathematics consultant organizations and task forces. In earning his doctorate, Dr. Gauthier developed expertise in the study of the effects of professional learning on mathematics teachers and teaching.
Margaret Walton
Towson University
Dr. Margaret Walton is an assistant professor in the Mathematics Department at Towson University. Her research interests include teacher educator learning and... professional development and teacher learning and professional development. She is particularly interested in teacher educator and teacher learning related to focusing on and making sense of student mathematical thinking. Prior to getting her PhD, Margaret was a high school math teacher in Washington, D.C.
Adam C. Fletcher
Bethany College
Adam is a professor of mathematics at Bethany College, a small liberal arts college in West Virginia. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics (algebraic topology) from... West Virginia University, but has a passion for the areas of P-20 mathematics education; of interdisciplinary connections between mathematics and the arts and humanities; and of training, education, and professional development for both youth and adults in youth-serving non-profit organizations. In his StoryCircles role, Adam serves as a facilitator with the Appalachian geometers’ project.
Gladys Nivera
Philippine Normal University
Gladys was a supervising instructor for practicum students for 6 years before teaching mathematics education courses at the Philippine Normal University.... She was the associate dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Mathematics from 2013 to 2020 and head of the Mathematics Department from 2011 to 2013. Currently, she serves as dean of the College of Teacher Development. On the side, she works as a consultant/trainer in various programs and writes K to Grade 10 mathematics textbooks.
Julie Rush
Midway ISD and Baylor University
Julie Rush is starting her 25th year in public education as the Coordinator of Curriculum for Midway ISD. Julie supports teachers and students in secondary mathematics..., science, and STEM programming. Julie is finishing up her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Baylor University and is the secretary for her local chapter of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Samantha Royer
Samantha is passionate about students of any age seeing that they can do math. She has presented at local, state, and national conferences about struggling students... and ways to help change their mindsets about mathematics. Currently, Samantha works for University of Alaska Fairbanks where she teaches future elementary educators. Prior to the university, she worked for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District for 28 years as a math teacher, mentor, technology coach, and special education math mentor.
Faaiz Gierdien
Stellenbosch University
Faaiz Gierdien works in the Department of Curriculum Studies at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) as a senior mathematics educator. His research... interests are in mathematics education and teacher education, with a particular focus on aspects of continuing professional development and the use of information and communications technology in relation to school mathematics reform. His master’s and doctoral students work more broadly within the field of mathematics education and its intersections with teacher education. He is currently a co-investigator in the Local Evidence-Driven Improvement of Mathematics Teaching and Learning Initiative (LEDIMTALI) based at the University of the Western.
Sharon Strickland
Texas State University
Danielle Martinez-Peabody
Granada Hills Charter School