The goal of this study is to identify and examine teachers' concerns regarding their use of the new adopted mathematics textbook. In Texas, middle school mathematics teachers are often given a great deal of flexibility in the decision to use or not to use textbooks in their classrooms. This provides an opportunity for discussion about the concerns of teachers regarding the use of the newly adopted textbook. This study focused on investigating the concerns of teachers in relation to the adoption of the new textbooks for their districts based their years of experience in teaching the same class and their involvement on using the same textbook. In addition, this study identified the source of support in implementing the new curriculum materials. The study utilized the Concern Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as its theoretical framework. A non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design, incorporating a researcher-developed Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), was used to address the research questions. A qualitative analysis was used to explore the teachers needs related to the use of the new adopted textbook and to provide additional insights into the teachers' concerns. The answers of 147 middle school mathematic teachers were analyzed in addition to teachers' interviews. Overall, the study found that teachers' highest concerns are focused mainly on the management of their work and that they are still in the early stages of implementing the new textbook. Teaching experience proved to be an important factor in explaining teachers' concerns in the implementation. Teachers feel isolated and unsupported in their use of the new curriculum materials and they expressed the need for support from their schools and from textbook publishers, as well as the need for more time and training to become familiar with the new textbook's content. They also wanted evidence that the new textbook supports student learning. Recommendations from the study include the need for the schools and the textbook publishing companies to work with middle grade school mathematics teachers to enable them to implement the new curriculum materials (textbooks) in the classrooms.

The study was based on the assumption that the analysis and evaluation of curriculum materials was an appropriate activity to be undertaken by practising teachers. Other studies indicated that teachers perceived a need for objective analyses of curriculum materials and for procedures suitable for use by the practising teacher which could generate information on which rational decisions concerning curriculum materials could be made. A variety of previously published analysis schemes were reviewed according to the criteria of: - range and scope of the scheme; - the relevance of the scheme to practising teachers; - feasibility; - adaptability and flexibility; - data collection procedures; - general considerations (curriculum model, presentation of report). The Sussex scheme (Eraut et al, 1975) was the analysis of junior science curriculum materials. This scheme was used in an analysis of I.S.C.S., "Probing the Natural World" materials. A simplified framework for the analysis of curriculum materials summarised the components of the scheme. In order to derive hard data on some of the effects of using I.S.C.S. materials, a quasi-experiment was attempted. Details of the quasi-experiment were included in this study. The validity of the concept of teacher-as-researcher or teacher-as-evaluator was supported throughout the field study.

The aim of the Field Study Project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a package of curriculum materials ("Indian Wedding: an Integrated Study") designed by myself. At Melrose High School, three teachers and 90 students trialled the kit over one term. Drama tutors from the A.C.T. Children's Theatre were also co-opted to help with the drama aspects of the work. I acted as an active participant in the learning process and in organising aspects of the project, and also as an observer, interviewing, watching and administering tests. Results showed the kit to be generally effective. Degree of student and teacher satisfaction with its use was high. Modifications in the approach to be used with the kit in the classroom, and to the kit components have been detailed.

The concept of the Canberra Teaching Resources Centre was derived partly from the teachers' centre movement which originated in England and to a lesser extent from the American educational materials centre concept. This field study uses historical method to trace the establishment and development of the Centre with an emphasis on the role of its first Director. The planning initiative lay with the Commonwealth Department of Education and Science from 1968 to 1972 although considerable teacher input was invited and received in 1970. Originally seen as a regional centre in the N.S.W. education systemf the Centre, when its Director took up duty in 1972, was influenced by educational reports of A.C.T. and national significance and in 1974 became part of the Interim A.C.T. Schools Authority. It operated in a limited way in 1973 but was ready by 1974 to act not only as a teachers' centre for the A.C.T. but as an agency of the new education system. The Centre's activities, involving integration of five main functions, expanded rapidly in 1974 and 1975. Demand as a meeting place for teachers soon overtaxed accommodation in the City Education Centre and additional space was acquired in Griffith Infants' School late in 1975. Displays of educational material evoked the least response from teachers. Demands on the multi-media Library's loan service grew so quickly that related services could not be developed. The entrepreneurial in-service education activities expanded quickly in volume and range and played an important part in establishing a new system. Audio-visual services developed more slowly and production of curriculum materials was just beginning in 1976. While teacher demand continued to grow, the Centre's development was held back from late 1975 by government economic policy and in mid-1976 it faced serious staffing and accommodation constraints. Closer integration with the Authority's Curriculum Branch selmed the Centre's most likely future path.

Following the release of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, (NCTM, 1989) substantial federal funding in the 1990s supported the development of curriculum materials intended to help teachers enact new visions of mathematics teaching and learning. Although a great deal of research about the "Standards-based" curriculum materials has focused on student achievement, an equally important body of research has investigated teachers' experiences with these materials. While this research about teacher-curriculum interactions continues to mature and offer insights into teachers' curriculum use, we face a critical shortage of information about preservice teachers' use of mathematics curriculum materials. To address this gap, I conducted two separate but related qualitative studies focused on preservice teachers' interactions with mathematics curriculum materials. The first study examined a teacher education activity in which 23 preservice elementary teachers analyzed sections of different mathematics curriculum materials and textbooks. The second study focused on three student teachers' uses of mathematics curriculum materials and textbooks during their student-teaching internships. The overall purpose of these studies was to examine the views and experiences that appear to influence preservice teachers' initial interpretations of Standards-based curriculum materials and to document preservice teachers' experiences using Standards-based and other instructional resources during student teaching. I also aimed to explore how mathematics curriculum materials might be more carefully positioned to play a more critical role in preservice teacher learning throughout typical teacher education opportunities and also in teachers' future use and learning with Standards-based curriculum materials and other instructional resources. Results of this manuscript dissertation indicated that preservice teachers found themselves immersed in professional development with mathematics curriculum materials, textbooks, and state curriculum guides during coursework and fieldwork experiences. They had the opportunity to develop an understanding of the variety of mathematics instructional resources available to them that were different from what they were used to, and also had opportunities to consider the unexpectedly complex nature of many of the materials. The preservice teachers found themselves negotiating balance between university coursework and fieldwork expectations as they evaluated, adapted and supplemented materials during coursework and fieldwork. The results from these chapters not only illustrate teacher learning with and about curriculum materials, but also point out opportunities within teacher education for preservice teachers to question well-established beliefs and practices regarding mathematics teaching and mathematics instructional resources as they encountered disequilibrium in multiple contexts. Overall results also highlight possible missed opportunities for learning and the importance of human resources within teacher education as it relates to preservice teachers' encounters with mathematics curriculum materials and instructional resources. / Ed. D.

We are currently witnessing an increase of international interest in mathematics education, fueled partly by the growing concerns of students’ declining results, but also by changed perceptions of what mathematics students should master. In response, many initiatives have appeared in order to move away from traditional to more inquiry based approaches to teaching. Though several small-scale studies have contributed much to our understanding on how to support teachers in this work, there is still a lack of research conducted on a larger scale. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to add to our knowledge of how to support instructional improvement at scale. This is done by focusing on two common approaches to support mathematics teachers’ development of reform based practices: teacher professional development [PD] programs and curriculum materials. The thesis builds on four papers which are all connected to a project aiming at improving the mathematics instruction in a large Swedish municipality. The project includes a PD-program for almost 400 elementary teachers and the mathematics curriculum materials that teachers are using play a central role in the program. The first two papers focus on curriculum materials either by using surveys to compare teachers’ views of the support offered in the materials and their reported mathematics instruction, or by conducting textbook analyses to characterize how some commonly used materials communicate about, for example, goals of lessons. The results demonstrate that teachers using different materials experience different levels of support from them and also show variations in their reported instruction. These differences are further reflected in the textbook analyses which show that the materials offer teachers various support, for example regarding how they communicate about goals. The last two papers focus on teacher PD-programs either by comparing the effects of two programs on student achievement, or by using surveys to examine teachers’ views of one of the programs and its impact on their reported instruction. The results indicate that the two PD-programs have affected students’ achievement in different ways, demonstrating both decline and improvement. Even within the programs differences are revealed between students at the primary and secondary levels. These variations are further present in the teacher surveys, where the results show differences between teachers from different grade-levels. By drawing on the literature review and the results of the papers, the thesis ends with a discussion of possible elaborations of a widely used core conceptual framework for studying teacher PD.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-09-14T18:16:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristina Masetti.pdf: 12119473 bytes, checksum: 7e512041dce1eda874441a5fc70f4741 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-14T18:16:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristina Masetti.pdf: 12119473 bytes, checksum: 7e512041dce1eda874441a5fc70f4741 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Our study aims to investigate how the exponential functions are covered in textbooks of Mathematics, offered to Brazilian schools by the National Textbook Program - PNLD, in 2015's high schools and how it is proposed the construction, systematization and consolidation of knowledge in these manuals. Our purpose is to analyze mathematical situations, concepts, propositions, procedures, language and arguments the textbook presents, accounting for different types of tasks the authors propose to the students for learning that knowledge. To this end, we sought the review the literature on studies of Mathematics textbook analysis, we read the curriculum guidelines of Mathematics for Secondary Education, and analyzed the books of the three collection of the 1st year of high school approved by PNLD 2015. We opted for the qualitative methodology and the technique of documentary analysis; furthermore, the data collection instruments were tables. Our work allowed us to conclude that the three analyzed textbooks offer teachers contextualized real life situations, of pure mathematics and other sciences, allowing interdisciplinarity, as well as to introduce the concept of exponential function within a context outside of mathematics seeking to promote student interest in the subject. All three books analyzed formally propose the power of review, not demonstrating, but justifying with solved exercises and an extensive list of manipulation tasks to be done. Therefore, regarding the emerging knowledge of exponential function we can say that the authors use language appropriate for the age group, offering various forms of representation in natural language, algebraic graphical and tabular, and argue using exercise resolution step by step. Predominates in three collections we analyze exponential function, handling exercises, few solving tasks of modeling problem that needs to get to the solution, and no statement of task, they prefer to justify themselves solving exercises that show all algebraic passages. Thus, from the analysis we can say that the textbooks investigated bring different tasks, allowing the teacher to provide differentiated learning situations, but are still few in number, one of them brings in a greater quantity of tasks to conjecture/argue compared to other books; in addition the author suggests to do these activities in pairs, which explains the fact that it brings fewer solved exercises, providing a high amount of problems to be solved and few manipulative exercises, the As compared to other works. So when the choice of which textbooks to be adopted by the school, the teacher to analyze it, needs to be aware of the characteristics of these books, in case of teach exponential functions, possible the necessity of having to offer higher amounts of certain learning situations to students, making additions and inclusions in the case of teaching demonstrations, with other curriculum materials, with the intent to report the curriculum requirements with regard to the teaching of exponential functions / Nosso estudo tem como objetivo investigar como as funções exponenciais são abordadas em livros didáticos de Matemática, oferecidos às escolas brasileiras pelo Programa Nacional do Livro Didático – PNLD, no Ensino Médio de 2015 e como é proposta a construção, sistematização e consolidação de conhecimentos nesses manuais. Nosso propósito é analisar situações matemáticas, conceitos, proposições, procedimentos, linguagem e argumentações que o livro didático apresenta, contabilizando diferentes tipos de tarefas que os autores propõem ao estudante para a aprendizagem dos conhecimentos. Para tanto, buscamos a revisão da literatura a respeito de estudos sobre a análise de livro didático de Matemática, fizemos a leitura das orientações curriculares de Matemática para o Ensino Médio, e analisamos os livros do 1º ano do Ensino Médio de três coleções aprovadas pelo PNLD de 2015. Optou-se pela metodologia de natureza qualitativa e pela técnica da análise documental; o instrumento de recolhimento de dados foram tabelas. Nosso trabalho nos permitiu concluir que os três livros didáticos analisados oferecem aos professores situações contextualizadas da vida real, da matemática pura e de outras ciências, permitindo a interdisciplinaridade, assim como introduzem o conceito de função exponencial dentro de um contexto fora da Matemática procurando provocar o interesse dos alunos pelo tema. Todos os três livros analisados propõem a revisão de potência de maneira formal, não demonstrando, porém, justificando com exercícios resolvidos e com lista extensa de tarefas de manipulação para serem feitos. Assim sendo, a respeito do conhecimento emergente de função exponencial podemos dizer que, os autores utilizam linguagem adequada para a faixa etária, oferecendo várias formas de representação na linguagem natural, algébrica gráfica e tabular, e argumentam utilizando a resolução de exercício passo a passo. Predominam nas três coleções nas quais analisamos o tema função exponencial, encontramos exercícios de manipulação, poucas tarefas de resolução de problemas que precisam ser modeladas para se chegar à solução, e nenhuma tarefa de demonstração, pois preferem se justificar resolvendo exercícios que mostrem todas as passagens algébricas. A partir das análises podemos dizer que os livros didáticos investigados trazem, para o ensino de função exponencial, diferentes tarefas, oportunizando ao professor oferecer situações de aprendizagem diferenciadas, porém ainda são em número reduzido, mesmo tendo um dos livros analisados maior quantidade de tarefas para conjecturar/argumentar em comparação aos outros livros, além do que o autor sugere que se façam estas atividades em duplas, o que justifica trazer uma quantidade menor de exercícios resolvidos, oferecendo uma quantidade elevada de problemas para serem resolvidos e poucos exercícios manipulativos, a medida que a comparamos às outras obras. Portanto, quando na escolha do livro didático a ser adotado pela escola, o professor ao analisá-lo, precisará estar atento às características destes livros, no caso do ensino de função exponencial, este pode precisar oferecer maior quantidade de determinadas situações de aprendizagem aos alunos, cabendo fazer complementações, e inclusão no caso do ensino de demonstrações, com outros materiais curriculares, no intento de dar conta das prescrições curriculares no que diz respeito ao ensino de funções exponenciais

abstract: This action research study primarily examined how educative curriculum materials (i.e., curriculum materials that include supports for teacher learning) can improve a teacher’s knowledge base and ability to succeed in the classroom. The focus was on the impact of one type of educative curriculum material: PowerPoint presentations. Specifically, the study investigated if translating teacher’s manuals into digital presentations was valued by general education teachers responsible for teaching Engage NY math in kindergarten, first, second, and third grades. The study asked teacher participants to describe the impact (if any) of adding a digital presentation component to their lessons and investigated if they self-reported increased Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), which is a teacher’s understanding of how to help students understand specific subject matter. Using questionnaires, interviews, and field notes, the following research questions were examined: 1) How do teachers describe the impact that pre-made digital slide share presentations (i.e., PowerPoint presentations) have on lesson planning, preparation, and pacing and 2) What impact does translating teacher’s manuals into digital slide share presentations (i.e., PowerPoint presentations) have on teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge? Results indicate that teacher participants found the presentations to be helpful and positively impacted their lesson planning, preparation, and pacing, and improved their perception of their own abilities when presenting Engage NY math content. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019

Using a framework for variations of classroom inquiry (National Research Council [NRC], 2000, p. 29), this study explored 40 inservice elementary teachers' planning, modification, and enactment of kit-based science curriculum materials. As part of the study, a new observation protocol was modified from an existing protocol (Practices of Science Observation Protocol [P-SOP]) to measure the amount of teacher direction in science inquiry lessons (Practices of Science Observation Protocol + Directedness [P-SOPd]). An embedded mixed methods design was employed to investigate four questions: 1. How valid and reliable is the P-SOPd? 2. In what ways do inservice elementary teachers adapt existing elementary science curriculum materials across the inquiry continuum? 3. What is the relationship between the overall quality of inquiry and variations of inquiry in elementary teachers' enacted science instruction? 4. How do inservice elementary teachers' ideas about the inquiry continuum influence their adaptation of elementary science curriculum materials? Each teacher chose three lessons from a science unit for video-recorded observation, and submitted lesson plans for the three lessons. Lesson plans and videos were scored using the P-SOPd. The scores were also compared between the two protocols to determine if a correlation existed between the level of inquiry (measured on the P-SOP) and the amount of teacher direction (measured on the P-SOPd). Findings indicated no significant differences between planned and enacted lessons for the amount of teacher direction, but a correlation existed between the level of inquiry and the amount of teacher direction. In effect, the elementary teachers taught their science curriculum materials with a high level of fidelity for both the features of inquiry and the amount of teacher direction. A smaller group of three case study teachers were followed for the school year to give a more in-depth explanation of the quantitative findings. Case study findings revealed that the teachers' science instruction was teacher-directed while their conceptions of inquiry were student-directed. This study contributes to existing research on preservice teachers' learning about the continuum (Biggers & Forbes, 2012) and inservice teachers' ideas about the five features of inquiry (Biggers & Forbes, in press).

Previous research worldwide has shown that curriculum materials maintain a strong presence and constitute an important tool, artefact, in mathematics classrooms. Yet, there is a vast lack of research on the design and the characteristics of teacher guides. The thesis aims to: 1) investigate the features of the Finnish teacher guides for mathematics at primary school and 2) map the cultural specificities and norms for classroom practices as construed in Finnish teacher guides. The data consist of nine Finnish teacher guides in mathematics (belonging to three textbook series) for Grades 1-6 and comprise almost 90 percent of the teacher guides utilized in Finnish schools for 2008. These teacher guides are examined through three studies. In the first study, we developed an analytical tool based on Davis and Krajcik’s ideas about educative curriculum materials when analysing the teacher guides’ content. In the second study, we analysed a larger sample of the Finnish teacher guides using the same analytical tool, but extending the study to also analyse their form, i.e. their look, structure and voice. This study shows that there is a wide consensus on both the content and the form of the guides. While several educative aspects are weakly presented in the guides, the analysis shows that they offer rich and varied resources for teachers in their everyday work in designing and enacting mathematics teaching and hence, learning in practice. The third study delves more deeply into the characteristics of the support the guides offer to design mathematics classrooms. We characterize the cultural script of the reflected classroom practice by analysing the form and the function of the activities promoted in most of the guides. We found a relatively homogeneous script that promotes differentiation while keeping students in the same mathematical area, opportunities to participate in whole-class interaction that comprises a variety of activities, like mental calculation, games, problem-solving, individual and group work, and small piece of homework after every single lesson. The thesis contributes to the international research discourse on curriculum materials and in particular on teacher guides as resources for design of mathematics classroom in a specific educational context. The study is also of interest for teachers, and for text-book authors in developing teacher guides in line with research. / Tidigare forskning visar att läromedel, så som elevernas lärobok och lärarhandledningar är den resurs som används i huvudsak som grund för matematikundervisning. Finsk forskning visar dessutom att finländska lärare (åk 1-6) i stor utsträckning använder lärarhandledningar i själva undervisningen och även för att planera och organisera sin undervisning. Studiens övergripande syfte är att se vilken typ av resurs de finländska lärarhandledningar utgör för läraren, men också att belysa vilken typ av klassrum som dessa lärarhandledningar verkar främja, då lärarna använder de uppgifter och aktiviteter som presenteras i lärarhandledningarna. Studien är genomförd som en dokumentanalys av tre läroboksserier i matematik för grundskolans årskurser 1, 3 och 6. Det är totalt nio lärarhandledningar som har analyserats. Dessa tre läroboksserier täcker nästan 90 procent av de lärarhandledningar som användes i och på finska skolor under år 2008. Avhandlingen består av tre studier. I den första studien som också betraktas som pilotstudie, utvecklade vi ett fungerande analytiskt verktyg som bygger på Davis och Krajciks idéer om ”lärande läromedel”. I den andra studien fördjupar vi resultaten från pilotstudien genom att analysera ett större urval med samma ramverk. Denna studie visar att det finns en bred enighet om både innehåll och form i lärarhandledningarna och vi identifierade sex återkommande aktiviteter som är närvarande på varje tilltänkt lektion. Vidare visar analysen att egenskaperna hos de finländska lärarhandledningarna erbjuder rika och varierande resurser för lärare i det dagliga arbetet vid både planering och genomförande av matematikundervisning. Den tredje studien är en fördjupning i analysverktygets femte kategori för att finna vilket stöd de erbjuder för att designa undervisning. Där kartlägger och karakteriserar vi det kulturella skript utifrån de finska lärarhandledningarna genom att analysera både form och funktion av de gemensamt föreslagna återkommande aktiviteterna. Vi identifierade en relativt homogen klassrumspraktik som lyfter fram helklassinteraktion, variation med hjälp av olika typer av aktiviteter, möjlighet för alla elever att delta och läxor som en förlängning av lärande av lektionens innehåll. Avhandlingen mynnar ut i en diskussion av resultatens slutsatser och dess praktiska implikationer, vilket kan vara av intresse för forskare, läromedelsförfattare men även för lärare, rektorer och kommuner som vill utveckla och förbättra undervisningen i matematik. Avhandlingen bidrar till den internationella forskningsdiskursen om läromedel i stort och om lärarhandledningar i synnerhet.