Describing Lesson Study Designed for Improvement of Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge of Student Thinking

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explain the process of lesson study designed for improving the mathematics teachers' knowledge of student thinking and to examine its effectiveness in terms of the teaching process and the teachers' professional development. The lesson study composed of three cycles was carried out with three mathematics teachers. Each cycle comprised of five stages. The data were collected from the interviews, the lesson observations, the field notes and the reflective diaries. The interviews were conducted with teachers, the teachers' lessons were observed by the researchers, the field notes were taken by the researchers and the reflective diaries were written by the teachers after each cycles. The data were examined by considering knowledge of student thinking in a detailed way. The teachers' awareness of knowledge of student thinking got increased by means of the lesson study model. They came to consider the students' thinking in their lessons and to question the underlying reasons of their ideas.