- Year 2019
- NSF Noyce Award # 1660521
- First Name Ivona
- Last Name Grzegorczyk
- Discipline Math
- Co-PI(s)
Joanne Lieberman, CSU Monterey Bay, jlieberman@csumb.edu
- Presenters
Joanne Lieberman, CSU Monterey Bay, jlieberman@csumb.edu
Need
Traditionally in math classes, teachers lectured and students passively listened and followed teachers’ methods for solving problems. Many students were unsuccessful in math, especially in high need schools, and even those who were successful were rarely challenged to think for themselves. Math teachers today need to envision and facilitate a different kind of math class where all students can be successful and can think for themselves, using multi-dimensional tasks that require students to depend on each other’s mathematical strengths to complete.
Goals
How can future math teachers be better prepared to envision and lead math classes with all students thinking about math questions and problems without being shown how to do them, especially in high need schools? How can math teachers learn to believe that each and every student is capable of learning math and brings a range of mathematical strengths to the class, especially in high need schools?
Approach
The California Coast Noyce Scholars Partnership (CCNS) project prepares and supports future math teachers by serving as a community of practice. Noyce scholars improve their preparation as mathematics teachers by participating in learning activities, collaborations and mathematics education research and projects. Scholars learn about an equity-based pedagogy called Complex Instruction (CI) by reading, discussing, and observing CI classrooms, and developing CI tasks. A major focus of Complex Instruction is recognizing that all students bring mathematical strengths to a class.
Outcomes
Noyce scholars developed math education projects that require students to think independently of the teacher, and that include multi-dimensional tasks for groups of students to work on together. They also visited classrooms where students were engaged in this type of learning and the scholars now have a vision for how math classes can be led with each and every student engaged in activities that require a range of mathematical strengths. Noyce scholars enter their credential program excited about becoming a math teacher who can facilitate classes with students actively engaged in their learning-talking about and doing math in small groups with equitable participation. Their vision for math teaching and learning has shifted so they have more specific goals for their own learning in the credential program.
Broader Impacts
The Mathematics Department, Teacher Credential program, and partner high need school district are collaborating to work towards a seamless pathway for future and in-service math teachers to become proficient in Complex Instruction pedagogy in order to build sustainability. Noyce scholars enter the credential program with some knowledge of Complex Instruction, having read about it and observed such classrooms, and with the desire to learn more about it. When credential candidates work with in-service teachers who are using Complex Instruction in high need school districts, the mindset that each and every student is a capable math learner is reinforced for both, and a growth mindset culture is sustained.
