Joel Amidon

Episode 56: Are We Preparing Agents of Change or Instruments of Inequity? Teaching Toward Antiracist Mathematics Teacher Education

October 11th, 2023  |  Season 14  |  34 mins 13 secs

equity; social justice; teaching & learning instruction; preservice teacher training; math methods course

The authors began this work with the understandings that (a) there is no “neutral” when it comes to the teaching of mathematics, and (b) mathematics teacher educators need to do something to help produce teachers of mathematics that develop students’ relationships with mathematics and push against the inequities that exist both within and outside of the classrooms in which they will teach. In response, the authors created, deployed, and studied a learning module in an attempt to enact antiracist mathematics teacher education. The learning module activities, the findings about the learning from the prospective teachers who engaged in the module, and messages for mathematics teacher educators who want to engage in this work are shared.

Episode 52: Adaptations to Support the Flint Water Task

June 1st, 2023  |  Season 13  |  19 mins 20 secs

This Perspectives on Practice manuscript focuses on an innovation associated with “Engaging Teachers in the Powerful Combination of Mathematical Modeling and Social Justice: The Flint Water Task” from Volume 7, Issue 2 of MTE. The Flint Water Task has shown great promise in achieving the dual goals of exploring mathematical modeling while building awareness of social justice issues. This Perspectives on Practice article focuses on two adaptations of the task—gallery walks and What I Know, What I Wonder, What I Learned (KWL) charts—that we have found to enhance these learning opportunities. We found that the inclusion of a gallery walk supported our students in the development of their mathematical modeling skills by enhancing both the mathematical analyses of the models and the unpacking of assumptions. The KWL chart helps students document their increase in knowledge of the social justice issues surrounding the water crisis. Using the mathematical modeling cycle to explore social justice issues allows instructors to bring humanity into the mathematics classroom.

Episode 19: Do You See What I See? Formative Assessment of Preservice Teachers’ Noticing of Students’ Mathematical Thinking

September 4th, 2020  |  Season 5  |  37 mins 27 secs

formative assessment; professional noticing; approximations of practice

Developing expertise in professional noticing of students’ mathematical thinking takes time
and meaningful learning experiences. We used the LessonSketch platform to create a learning
experience for secondary preservice teachers (PSTs) involving an approximation of teaching
practice to formatively assess PSTs’ noticing skills of students’ mathematical thinking.
Our study showed that approximations of teaching practice embedded within platforms
like LessonSketch can enable mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) to carry out effective
formative assessment of PSTs’ professional noticing of students’ mathematical thinking
that is meaningful for both PSTs and MTEs. The experience itself as well as its design features
and framework used with the assessment can be applied in the work of MTEs who develop teachers’ professional noticing skills of students’ mathematical thinking.