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To transform the knowledge and skills they develop through teacher education programmes into successful instructional practices, preservice teachers should strongly believe in their capabilities. T...

This paper explores the nature of prospective teachers’ noticing of students’ understanding as they analyze and discuss middle school students’ understandings of trapezoids in micro-case videos in the context of geometry. In this exploratory study, the data were obtained from eight prospective middle school mathematics teachers through individual video analysis, reflection papers, and group discussions. The results indicated that the use of purposeful micro-case video designs based on prospective teachers’ background knowledge of quadrilaterals allowed them to be productive in video analyses and discussions. In individual video analyses, prospective teachers attended to various mathematical elements to identify students’ responses but did not always use them to make interpretations of each student’s understanding of trapezoid. In the group discussions of the micro-case videos, in contrast, prospective teachers could provide alternative interpretations of students’ understanding by identifying links between the mathematical elements in students’ responses and the characteristics of students’ understandings. In the group discussions, they provided more detailed and specific instructional actions to support each student’s understanding of trapezoid than their individual video analyses. This study suggests practical implications for teacher education programs on how to use video cases (e.g., firstly, working individually and then having group discussions about the videos) to explore prospective teachers’ professional noticing skills. Considering prospective teachers’ background knowledge of related mathematical contents, this study can also inspire future studies on how to design effective videos about students’ mathematical understanding.

The purpose of this study was to investigate pre-service mathematics teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about using concrete models in teaching mathematics. Participants were 31 junior pre-service middle school mathematics teachers. Six instructional sessions based on using concrete models were carried out during a three week period. Data were collected by a survey on pre-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs about using concrete models and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis demonstrated that the instruction had positive contributions on the pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, results revealed that pre-service teachers had confidence in themselves about using concrete models both as learners and as teachers. Moreover, they believed that using concrete models would have positive consequences in teaching process and students’ learning. However, pre-service teachers had relatively low efficacies about classroom management.

This study aimed to investigate secondary mathematics teachers’ noticing of students’ mathematical thinking in the context of a professional development (PD) program utilizing modeling-based teacher investigations. The PD program was conducted with two groups of mathematics teachers from two public high schools. It included seven 1-month-long cycles, each consisting of an introductory meeting, the teachers’ classroom implementations of a model-eliciting activity (MEA), and a follow-up meeting focusing on the teachers’ collaborative investigation and discussion of students’ written work, including their strategies to solve the MEA. Findings suggested that participating in the PD program promoted the teachers’ noticing of students’ mathematical thinking, albeit differently, over time. We elaborated on the components of the PD program that might have influenced the teachers’ noticing of students’ mathematical thinking. Implications of the findings on teachers’ noticing for researchers, PD leaders, and teacher educators are discussed in terms of potential directions for future research and practice.

Applications and modelling have gained a prominent role in mathematics education reform documents and curricula. Thus, there is a growing need for studies focusing on the effective use of mathematical modelling in classrooms. Assessment is an integral part of using modelling activities in classrooms, since it allows teachers to identify and manage problems that arise in various stages of the modelling process. However, teachers' difficulties in assessing student modelling work are a challenge to be considered when implementing modelling in the classroom. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers' knowledge on generating assessment criteria for assessing student competence in mathematical modelling evolved through a professional development programme, which is based on a lesson study approach and modelling perspective. The data was collected with four teachers from two public high schools over a five-month period. The professional development programme included a cyclical process, with each cycle consisting of an introductory meeting, the implementation of a model-eliciting activity with students, and a follow-up meeting. The results showed that the professional development programme contributed to teachers' knowledge for generating assessment criteria on the products, and the observable actions that affect the modelling cycle.

Adopting a multitiered design-based research perspective, this study examines pre-service secondary mathematics teachers' developing conceptions about (a) the nature of mathematical modeling in simulations of real life problem solving, and (b) pedagogical principles and strategies needed to teach mathematics through modeling. Unlike other studies that have focused on single-topic and lesson-sized research sites, a course-sized research site was used in this study. Having been through several iterations over three teaching semesters, the 15-week long course was implemented with 25 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. Findings revealed that pre-service teachers developed ideas about the nature of mathematical modeling involving what mathematical modeling is, the relationship between mathematical modeling and meaningful understanding, and the nature of mathematical modeling tasks. They also realized the changing roles of teachers during modeling implementations and diversity in students' ways of thinking. The researchers' conceptual development, on the other hand, involved realizing the critical aspect of the teacher role played by the instructor during modeling implementations, and the need for more experience of modeling implementations for pre-service teachers.

This study investigated how prospective teachers notice student mathematical thinking in a video-based learning environment and in analyzing students’ thinking when they conduct a research in their practice schools in the scope of a 14-week elective course program. Instructional process of the course had two phases. In the first phase, a group of eight prospective mathematics teachers analysed video cases related to students’ mathematical thinking. In the second phase, they explored actual students’ mathematical thinking through diagnostic interviews in their practice schools in order to conduct a small-scale research project. The results indicated that while prospective teachers tended to be more simplistic in analysing students’ thinking in their early video-case analyses, they came up with deeper analysis of student thinking by making sound inferences from data and proposing pedagogical strategies. Moreover, prospective teachers stated that micro-case videos functioned as a catalyst for enhancing their noticing of student thinking before conducting small-scale research projects.

Asking effective questions has been considered to be one of the most important indicators of good teaching since questioning is an important instructional tool and the ability to ask effective questions requires sophisticated pedagogical reasoning. Teachers can facilitate students' higher-level thinking through effective questions. However, teachers' utilization of effective and higher-level questions is usually limited in traditional settings. The goal of this study is to investigate how secondary mathematics teachers' knowledge and skills of questioning change when they are engaged in professional development activities based on the modeling perspective. The program included five cycles each of which lasted a month. Each cycle consisted of meetings before and after the implementation of a model-eliciting activity and its implementation. The results showed that the professional development program had a positive effect on teachers' ability to ask qualitatively different questions in order to move students' thinking forward.

Use of mathematical modeling in mathematics education has been receiving significant attention as a way to develop students. mathematical knowledge and skills. As effective use of modeling in classes depends on the competencies of teachers we need to know more about the nature of teachers. knowledge to use modeling in mathematics education and how this knowledge evolves. The aim of this study is to investigate how teachers. pedagogical knowledge to use modeling in the classroom is formed and modified through professional development activities based on lesson study cycle from modeling perspective. The professional development program reported in this study included five monthly cycles consisted of meeting before the implementation, implementation of the activity and a follow up meeting. The participants were four in-service mathematics teachers. Results showed that the program provided opportunities for teachers to test, revise, and refine their knowledge. More specifically, teachers generated effective strategies for proper implementation of the modeling activities in the classroom.

Researchers point out the importance of teachers’ knowledge of student thinking and the role of examining student work in various contexts to develop a knowledge base regarding students’ ways of thinking. This study investigated prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ interpretations of students’ thinking as manifested in students’ work that embodied solutions of mathematical modelling tasks. The data were collected from 25 prospective mathematics teachers enrolled in an undergraduate course through four 2-week-long cycles. Analysis of data revealed that the prospective teachers interpreted students’ thinking in four ways: describing, questioning, explaining, and comparing. Moreover, whereas some of the prospective teachers showed a tendency to increase their attention to the meaning of students’ ways of thinking more while they engaged in students’ work in depth over time and experience, some of them continued to focus on only judging the accuracy of students’ thinking. The implications of the findings for understanding and developing prospective teachers’ ways of interpreting students’ thinking are discussed.

SUMMARY The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problems of teacher education in Turkey and also to elaborate on the issues in the teacher education debate that we think are problematic. Our main focus will be on western influence and its consequences in building a relevant teacher education programme in Turkey. The irrelevancy between teacher education programmes and the realities of Turkish schools and the demand for a relevant theoretical base for teacher education were linked to western influence on the knowledge base and research traditions. The arguments in this paper were based on available literature and the authors' personal experiences in teacher education institutions. A background to and historical information on teacher education in Turkey are also included.

If teachers interpret students' ways of thinking appropriately, they can make adequate instructional decisions before, during, and after teaching, and can develop their teaching with respect to stu...