The main goal of this seminar is to discuss results of the research conducted in the context of the Activating Problem Solving in the Classroom initiative. Dr. Lisa Darragh and Annette Rouleau will share their research, as described below:

Lisa Darragh

Tensions between teacher identity and the teacher role in problem solving mathematics teaching after professional development

Chilean primary school teachers typically teach mathematics in a traditional, teacher-centred manner and use little non-routine problem solving in their programmes. Worldwide, reform agendas aim for pedagogical change in mathematics, including the use of collaborative, student-centred problem solving activities. The ARPA programme of professional development (PD) is one initiative operating in Chile that aims to enhance mathematics teaching in line with reform methods. In this presentation, I will share the findings of my Fondecyt Post-doctoral research. I investigated the continued development of 15 teachers in the 18 months after their participation in ARPA PD. Interviews and observations demonstrated that teachers understood the value of student-centred group work and the use of contextual problems in mathematics teaching but the importance of the plenary and the use of non-routine problems was less elaborated. Teacher identity and the tensions with the teacher role of ARPA was found to provide explanatory value for lack of PD uptake in the long term. Following these results, I suggest a number of adaptations to the PD that may make it more successful in the long term. These include the consideration and interrogation of desired teacher identities and emphasising the important role of the teacher in selecting problems and delivering the plenary session of the problem solving activity.

Lisa Darragh is currently a lecturer at the University of Auckland in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, School of Curriculum and Pedagogy (New Zealand). During 2015 - 2017 she had a post-doctoral position with CIAE.

Annette Rouleau,

Examining Sources of Self-Efficacy in Whole-Class Problem Solving

Simon Fraser University, Canada;

Self-efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one’s abilities to attain a goal or outcome. This has significance in classroom situations where students with low self-efficacy fall into a self-fulfilling feedback loop of low aspirations leading to low performance, leading to even lower aspirations. In this talk, I present an ARPA inspired context in which a whole-class problem-solving implementation interrupted that loop for a student with low self-efficacy in mathematics.

Annette Rouleau is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the Simon Fraser University of Canada. I currently she works with Dr. Peter Liljedahl.  Prior to that, she taught elementary school for ten years and have been a lead teacher in both technology and differentiated instruction.

The seminar will be in English

Jueves 22 de Noviembre, 16:00

Zócalo Norte Casa Irma Salas

Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación

Fuente: Comunicaciones CIAE