Promoting Equity in Elementary School Mathematics

This chapter describes the frameworks of mathematics tasks, equity-based mathematics teaching practices, technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK), and how they relate to teaching for equity in virtual learning environments (VLE). The frameworks are used to describe vignettes from VLEs with elementary school learners and elementary school teacher candidates (future teachers). Implications of these vignettes include a need for an empirically based trajectory related to equity-based teaching practices as well as a need to consider which technologies in a VLE can be used to effectively promote equity-based mathematics teaching practices.

From what Makes Students Dislike Mathematics towards its Effective Teaching Practices

This paper presents the findings of a descriptive survey research that investigated what makes students dislike Mathematics and seeks potentially effective Mathematics teaching practices, to boost their interest. The study involved 94 participants, including 60 lower-level secondary school students and 34 Mathematics teachers from 5 schools in Karongi District, Western Province, Rwanda. Both students’ and teachers’ questionnaire responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. We found that what makes students dislike Mathematics is related to how Mathematics is taught. Low scores in tests or exams, teachers’ harshness, and carelessness were reported among the factors demotivating students to like Mathematics. Being able to show the relevance of Mathematics in an everyday situation, teaching students to remember mathematical facts, and showing them lots of worked examples were mentioned by most of the teachers as indicators of effective Mathematics teaching practices. Together with these indicators, preparing the lesson before teaching, providing exercises and homework to students, and making research to update teachers’ teaching skills have been drawn and recommended for teachers as potentially effective teaching practices.

Teachers’ reflections on mathematics teaching practices in a vulnerable context

The objective of this research is to show the difficulties and the challenges identified by teachers in their mathematics teaching practices. The research is based on the concept of reflection-action, thus a workshop-course centered on collaborative work and on reflections about teaching practices was designed in order to achieve the objective. Ten mathematics teachers the Telebachillerato (Higher Secondary Education Subsystem, Mexico) participated in this research. The results show that teachers have a variety of challenges, but also difficulties, particularly involving getting students to construct knowledge autonomously, as well as teachers selecting and using resources in accordance to the subject matter to be taught. In addition, there is also lack of mathematical and pedagogical knowledge in the participants. Collaborative work is required, leading teachers towards building the necessary knowledge for Higher Secondary Education in order to avoid student obstacles.

Supporting Mathematics Teaching Practices in Online Teacher Education

In this chapter, the author provides an example of an integrated and collaborative activity for in-service mathematics teachers that was implemented synchronously online. While prior research details how this lesson developed middle and secondary teachers' mathematics content knowledge of logarithms and teachers' science content knowledge concept of pH, this chapter focuses on how the lesson was converted from a face-to-face format to the online format while supporting research-based essential teaching skills, specifically NCTM's Mathematics Teaching Practices (MTPs). Evidence is provided for how three MTPs were upheld using the online platform Blackboard Collaborate, followed by recommendations for other teacher educators wishing to engage teachers in online learning that supports mathematics education goals of integrated STEM education through mathematical discourse, conceptual understanding, and reasoning about mathematical representations.