The use of technology in Kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms provides opportunities for teachers to employ mathematical rigor, to integrate problem solving strategies and to extend mathematical ways of knowing (Drier, Dawson, & Garofalo, 1999). The presentation consists of two parts. One investigation maps secondary mathematics technology lessons and materials to the elementary school mathematics standards and converts the mathematics concepts to manageable elementary school lessons. The other investigation analyzes pre-service teacher lessons written using ASSURE instructional design format. The major aims of this paper are to present two teacher preparation practices, one for secondary mathematics pre-service teachers (converting secondary materials to elementary materials) and the other for elementary mathematics pre-service teachers (writing lessons using the ASSURE model).

The Education Faculties within the universities are looking to meet the needs of their learners more completely. Teaching and learning strategies are being adopted to make educational provision more flexible by using computer supported collaborative learning environments. However, research has shown that in preservice teacher programs, many teachers do not have a complete knowledge of subject-matter or pedagogical content knowledge. This study investigated how a lesson-planning task within the context of a computer supported collaborative learning environment can facilitate the growth of teacher knowledge, specifically subject-matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge about the teaching of ratio and fraction. The findings from this research showed that using a lesson-planning task facilitated the development of teacher knowledge, specifically subject-matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Within the computer supported collaborative learning community, the preservice teachers were able to articulate their current understandings and re-define their knowledge of fraction and ratio. The thesis concludes with a conceptual framework and some specific guidelines for the design of a scaffolded computer-mediated community and discusses implications for the design of future collaborative learning environments.

abstract: A teacher’s mathematical knowledge for teaching impacts the teacher’s pedagogical actions and goals (Marfai & Carlson, 2012; Moore, Teuscher, & Carlson, 2011), and a teacher’s instructional goals (Webb, 2011) influences the development of the teacher’s content knowledge for teaching. This study aimed to characterize the reciprocal relationship between a teacher’s mathematical knowledge for teaching and pedagogical goals. Two exploratory studies produced a framework to characterize a teacher’s mathematical goals for student learning. A case study was then conducted to investigate the effect of a professional developmental intervention designed to impact a teacher’s mathematical goals. The guiding research questions for this study were: (a) what is the effect of a professional development intervention, designed to perturb a teacher’s pedagogical goals for student learning to be more attentive to students’ thinking and learning, on a teacher’s views of teaching, stated goals for student learning, and overarching goals for students’ success in mathematics, and (b) what role does a teacher's mathematical teaching orientation and mathematical knowledge for teaching have on a teacher’s stated and overarching goals for student learning? Analysis of the data from this investigation revealed that a conceptual curriculum supported the advancement of a teacher’s thinking regarding the key ideas of mathematics of lessons, but without time to reflect and plan, the teacher made limited connections between the key mathematical ideas within and across lessons. The teacher’s overarching goals for supporting student learning and views of teaching mathematics also had a significant influence on her curricular choices and pedagogical moves when teaching. The findings further revealed that a teacher’s limited meanings for proportionality contributed to the teacher struggling during teaching to support students’ learning of concepts that relied on understanding proportionality. After experiencing this struggle the teacher reverted back to using skill-based lessons she had used before. The findings suggest a need for further research on the impact of professional development of teachers, both in building meanings of key mathematical ideas of a teacher’s lessons, and in professional support and time for teachers to build stronger mathematical meanings, reflect on student thinking and learning, and reconsider one’s instructional goals. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mathematics Education 2016

As part of a drive to improve the quality of teachers, Zimbabwe introduced a school-based mentoring model in 1995, a move which regrettably seems not have borne fruit. Therefore, this study sought to propose an improved mentoring model for initial teacher training for primary school teachers. Efforts to improve the current mentoring could, however, be facilitated if they were informed by an empirically-based understanding of the shortcomings of the existing mentoring system for student teachers and teachers. In order to attain the above objective, this study adopted a multisite case study design, guided by the interpretive paradigm. A core of nine primary schools, drawn from the rural, urban and peri-urban areas of the Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe, was purposively selected to participate in the study. In the participating schools, key participants were student teachers and mentors, while school principals participated when they had time. A secondary group of primary schools were also identified to be used as validation of findings in a wider setting. An in-depth literature study on teacher education and mentoring was also carried out and this, combined with empirical data, illuminated the issues being investigated. The empirical data were primarily gathered through focus group and face-to-face individual semi-structured interviews, while participant observation (used in conjunction with informal unstructured interviews) and questionnaires were used to verify and triangulate data collected through the interviews. To safeguard the ethical integrity of the study, ethical approval from the relevant university committee, as well as the official consent of educational authorities, was obtained beforehand, as was the informed consent of individual participants. The research established that the support rendered to student teachers in the participating primary schools was largely inadequate and of a shallow mode, focusing primarily on facilitating the mastery of technical skills and the provision of psycho-social support, while being sorely deficient in empowering the student teachers with the skills and attitudes to reflectively and critically engage with their own and others‟ teaching practices. The mentoring was taking place in the context of field experience, organised along the apprenticeship model, hence located in an outmoded traditional paradigm of field experience, something which is regrettable at a time when international best practices seek to move towards a reflective-inquiry-oriented paradigm. Secondly, the research found that the participating schools were not structurally or culturally ready to take significant teacher training responsibility; hence the schools, in their present state, could be seen as constraining the smooth functioning of the mentoring model. Thirdly, some mentor-based factors also seemed to inhibit the functioning of the mentoring model. These included teachers who were attitudinally indisposed to accept student teachers as their professional colleagues, preferring to relate to them hierarchically and vertically, thereby limiting the emergence of a culture of professional collaboration and reciprocal learning relationships. In similar vein, the mentors‟ lack of training limited their capacity of mentors to perform the extended range of mentoring functions necessary for supporting student teachers trained in 21st century schools. The above conclusions and implications point towards the following recommendations: Mentor support for student teachers should be extended from the present superficial level to include functions that are oriented towards reflective practice. However, for this to happen, some adjustments will need to be made in the schools. These include, most importantly, making time available for mentoring activities. In order for the mentors to be able to perform their mentoring functions knowledgeably, they must be made fully aware of what they are supposed to do by providing them with the official documents spelling out mentoring expectations in schools. Additionally, the commitment of mentors to their duties could be made more sustainable by putting in place a clearly defined reward structure that is fully recognized officially and integrated into the employee grading system. To make school environments more propitious towards mentoring, schools must be structurally modified and re-cultured to create slots for mentoring activities, provide opportunities for informal professional interaction among teachers, as well as establish professional engagement forums, such as school-based learning circles. The research also suggests that student teachers should be allowed to choose their mentors through providing them with opportunities for early contact with their prospective mentoring partners. In an attempt to close the gap between college-based modules and field-based school experiences, the research further recommends that college-based modules be delivered in a way that ensures that they are fully integrated with student teachers‟ field experiences. Finally, mentoring could be better facilitated if schools and colleges adopted a partnership arrangement that is more aligned to mentoring. This implies provisionally shifting from the present separatist to the HEI-led partnership model, while preparing for the adoption of a fully-fledged collaborative partnership in the long term. The research was, however, by no means carried out perfectly. It was somewhat limited by its failure to take into account the view of officials from the Department of Education, as well as the input of colleagues in teacher education. In similar vein, the researcher felt that a more nuanced and fine-grained picture of the participants‟ mentoring experiences could have emerged if he had spent more time in the field, something which limited resources and work commitments did not allow him to do. Some significant issues arose from this study, but which it could not pursue. These include exploring the possibility of coming up with a model of teacher education that integrates ITE and CTPD in the context of mentoring, as well as conducting a similarly designed research into the mentoring that is taking place in secondary schools.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the common planning time for a team of middle school teachers by comparing the standardized test scores of middle school students selected from two school districts located in North Texas. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) 2 * 4 design was utilized to measure the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) math and reading scale score for 7th grade students from the test administered in spring 2005. The data for this study were compared by the variables of school, gender, and ethnicity. The measuring tool utilized in this study determined the ratio of the amount of variance of the scores for individuals of between-groups as opposed to the amount of variance of within-groups, indicating if there were a statistically significant difference on the scores in any one particular variable compared to the variances of scores for the other variables in this study. The statistical results indicated that there were no statistical significant differences in the scores of students attending a middle school where the teachers received a common planning time. However, there was a noted difference in the percentage ratings on the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) report published by TEA for the African American students who attended the school with the common planning time. These students had higher scores on the TAKS reading test. The TAKS math scores did not indicate any notable differences.

This project examines online learning tools and software that are applicable to K-12 and post-secondary distance learning environments. Powerpoint, Webquest and Inspiration 7 have been utilized to develop a lesson plan and storyboard that incorporate the constructivist theory of learning. An accompanying Web site, "Learning Tools for the On-Line Student," serves as a resource for instructional technology educators and includes information on designing lesson plans and evaluating students. The site also provides links to online tools and software that are useful in online learning environments.

This cross-sectional study assessed participants' perceptions of classroom technology integration and compared them to variables such as years of teaching experience, age, gender, computer access, technology training and level of technology adoption in the classroom.

This thesis investigates how teachers in political science course A, all from municipal upper secondary schools work with planning their lessons. Due to nationwide regulations and goals set by the The Swedish National Agency for Education, the teachers have to plan their lessons basing on these regulations. However it is not defined how to concretely implement these regulations when planning for the lessons, which may lead to the fact that the teachers’ own interpretations of the regulations cannot be fully avoided in the process of planning for the lessons. The investigation consists of five interviews made with teachers in political science, all from municipal upper secondary schools. The teachers who have taken part in this report come from two different municipal upper secondary schools. The result in this report partly shows that although the basic reference topics set by The Swedish National Agency for Education is the same for each teacher in political science, the planning of the lessons structure can be very different. For example, when the five teachers plan how to make the pupils understand the concept of "democracy", they all planned their lessons having the regulations and goals in mind, but they all have a unique approach in how to prepare for their lessons and explain the concept of "democracy" for their pupils.

Arts-Across-the-Curriculum is gaining popularity in the field of education as arts programs are being cut from schools and teachers looks for ways to incorporate art in their classroom. Most of these teachers have minimal formal arts training, but recognize the importance of introducing their students to various fine arts disciplines. These educators seek opportunities to learn new ways to bring arts to their students and may bring teaching artists into their classrooms to teach students or teachers. The clear connection between drama and the core subjects of history and literature allow teaching artists to easily create units utilizing both curriculum areas. Mathematics does not present clear connections to drama and the prevalence of mathematics anxiety, especially in the arts, prevents connections from being made. As an educator, theatre artist and lover of mathematics, Arts-Across-the-Curriculum provides me a opportunity to meld these together as a way to help young people find excitement in their education. Partnering with a fourth grade teacher, I developed a unit of lesson plans using playwriting as a way to understand word problems that was user-friendly for a teacher with no arts training. The Dramath Unit was integrated into the class as part of regular curriculum taught by the participating classroom teacher. Based on feedback from the participating teacher, I revised the unit for future use.

The purpose of this study was to explore the McDaniel College Elementary STEM Instructional Leader (ESIL) pilot cohort's ability to proficiently plan lessons that incorporated the Maryland State STEM Standards of Practice (SOP), targeting integration of STEM content, inquiry learning, students' abilities to collaborate as a STEM team and students' strategic application of technology. Data collection, in the form of reviewing and analyzing study participants' lesson plans and self-reflections, was completed by three independent assessors. The researcher examined the interrater reliability among the three assessors using the Fleiss' kappa statistic. A 0.91 proportion of agreement consensus was documented among the three assessors. A test of hypothetical value was conducted using the nonparametric Wilcoxon-signed-rank Test. Interpretation of the Wilcoxon-signed-rank Test results suggest that the sample population demonstrated proficient planning abilities for the four targeted Maryland State STEM SOP. Findings from this research add to the field's knowledge of elements in the promotion of graduate coursework that leads to elementary in-service teachers' proficiency in planning STEM-centric lessons, however the findings also have broader implications for teacher education at large. The McDaniel College ESIL model could frame K-12 teacher education for both pre-service and in-service teachers. The pragmatic, hybrid experience maximizes flexibility, promotes analytical thinking and self-reflection and builds communication skills. The introduction and development of inquiry and design-based learning through the 7E Learning Cycle develops the teachers' understanding of practices promoted not only within the Maryland State STEM SOP, but also within the Next Generation Science Standards. The McDaniel College ESIL model also builds upon the collective efforts of academia, a non-profit STEM research facility, and local school divisions to align efforts that may lead to transformational changes for education. Essential ingredients for systemic change are embedded within the McDaniel ESIL model. / Ed. D.