Noticing and Deciding the Next Steps for Teaching: A Cross-University Study with Elementary Pre-service Teachers

Abstract

Teaching is a complex endeavor which requires teachers to make decisions based on children's thinking. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) training to be future teachers need experiences to increase their ability to notice, understand, and analyze children's responses/work to make sense of children's mathematical thinking. This chapter examines elementary PSTs' skills to recognize, identify, and make instructional decisions in their teacher preparation programs when provided with opportunities to engage in noticing practices in their mathematics methods courses. Qualitative analysis using open coding was used to analyze data sets collected from three different universities across the U.S. to find commonalities and themes. Results of the study provide insight into the effectiveness of the instructional activities and PSTs' next-step instructional decisions.