Please do not use or cite these modules without permission from the Teach Math project. Similarly, if you are interested in further materials associated with these modules, please contact . Thank you.
The Analysis of Classroom Practices through Multiple Mathematical Lenses module consists of three required activities, the third of which has a number of options.
In the first activity, Video Case Analysis, pre-service teachers analyze video cases using a quadruple “lens” approach (e.g. task, learning, teaching, power & participation) to analyze each case. This activity takes place over time such that PSTs analyze multiple videos using the various lenses in a rotating pattern. This activity supports PSTs’ examination of mathematical funds of knowledge using video clips. Each case provides an opportunity for PSTs’ to examine the mathematical ideas (e.g. concepts, skills, problem-solving strategies); knowledge resources (e.g. mathematical, family, community, cultural, linguistic, personal); student participation, status issues, sense-making, and communication practices; and instructional strategies that facilitate mathematical thinking/reasoning and support students with varied cultural & linguistic backgrounds, math experiences & confidences.
The second activity, Analysis of Curriculum Spaces, Pre-service teachers analyze and adapt one or more lessons from commonly used curriculum materials to create “spaces” for eliciting, building on, and integrating children’s mathematical thinking and children’s multiple mathematical knowledge bases. These adaptations are based on specific prompts from the lenses applicable for analysis of written documents.
The third activity, has three options, the first one being the Analysis of Mathematics Lesson Activity, where PSTs evaluate their own math lesson’s potential to support mathematics learning using the lens prompts applicable for analysis of written documents. The analysis is designed to inform instructional planning and lesson development. The second option, Analysis of Field Lesson Activity, engages PSTs in using one or more of the critical case lenses to analyze a mathematics lesson they observe in their practicum. The goal of this activity, in part, is to support students in looking in greater depth at the teaching in their practicum site and potentially notice things they may not have noticed before. The last option for the third activity, Analysis of Own Teaching Practices Activity engages PSTs in using one or more of the critical case lenses to examine their own practice. PSTs teach a mathematics lesson (video optional) and then use the critical case lenses to focus their reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson that they taught.