BUILDING A CULTURE OF EVIDENCEBASED PRACTICE IN TEACHER

BUILDING A CULTURE OF EVIDENCEBASED PRACTICE IN TEACHER PREPARATION FOR MATHEMATICS TEACHING Some findings and implications

BACKGROUND Longstanding interest in beginning teacher knowledge What do beginning teachers need to know? Shulman � Content knowledge � Curricular knowledge � Pedagogical content knowledge

STANDARDS Standards for excellent teachers of mathematics (AAMT, 2002) � Professional knowledge � Professional attributes � Professional practice Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership generic standards at 4 career stages beginning with graduate standards Accreditation of teacher education providers

MEASURING TEACHER KNOWLEDGE Number and level of courses taken Mathematical knowledge for teaching (Ball et al. ) � Multi-choice tests measuring content knowledge in a classroom context Pen and paper profiles Holistic view of teacher knowledge including beliefs as an hierarchical structure

CEMENT: CULTURE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN MATHEMATICS TEACHING FOR NEW TEACHERS 2 year project Aims to provide: � Evidence-based changes to mathematics education teaching within participating universities; � Recommendations about effective models of teacher education for teaching mathematics; � Processes for bringing about change at unit and course level; and � Progress towards a national culture of evidence-based practice in relation to mathematics teacher education. Extension of the project’s approach and findings to other disciplines

SUMMARY SURVEY FINDINGS 294 respondents – primary pre-service teachers 7 universities (diverse) 45% BEd; 21. 4% PG pre-service (Dip. Ed, MTeach), 33. 3% combined degree Most had a pre-tertiary maths subject at Year 12 (48%) On-campus (44%); off-campus (45%)

OUTCOME MEASURES USED Confidence to teach mathematics (less/more) (CNF) Mathematical pedagogy beliefs (MPB) (factor analysis; 3 items) � Teachers must be able to represent mathematical ideas in a variety of ways � Justifying mathematical thinking is an important part of learning mathematics � The teacher must be receptive to student suggestions and ideas Mathematics content knowledge (MCK) Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)

PREDICTORS OF OUTCOMES Place of enrolment Current course Previous educational experience Previous mathematics experience Mode of study (on- vs. off- campus vs. mixed) Part-time vs. Fulltime Year when course would be completed

MCK AND PCK MEAN VALUES Based on Rasch measurement

CONFIDENCE Pre-service Teachers studying courses other than MTeach were more likely to be confident about teaching at their appropriate level Pre-service Teachers who had taken mathematics courses other than Year 10 or Year 12 (non-pre-tertiary) were more likely to be confident No other variables significantly predicted confidence in teaching mathematics

MPB (MATHEMATICAL PEDAGOGY BELIEFS) Pre-service Teachers attending one particular university were likely to less strongly endorse beliefs about mathematics pedagogy Pre-service Teachers enrolled in combined degrees were likely to less strongly endorse beliefs about mathematics pedagogy The further from graduation, beliefs about mathematics pedagogy were less strongly endorsed

MCK (MATHEMATICS CONTENT KNOWLEDGE) Pre-service teachers likely to obtain lower mathematical content knowledge scores than others, included those: � enrolled at one particular university � enrolled in combined degrees � who had previously completed only Year 10 mathematics courses � who had previously completed only non-pre-tertiary Year 12 mathematics courses � who were enrolled in a BEd course � who attended university in mixed mode (on- plus offcampus).

PCK (PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE) The one significant predictor of PCK was completing only Year 10 mathematics Higher levels of mathematics, prior educational experiences, place and mode of enrolment did not significantly predict achievement of PCK

PATH MODEL OF SIGNIFICANT PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS

DISCUSSION POINTS What is important for teaching – Beliefs and attitudes, Confidence, MCK, PCK. . . ? What happens in your courses? What aspects do you stress? How might these findings differ for Secondary preservice teachers?