What We Know About Deepening Teachers' Content Knowledge: Engaging Teachers with Student Thinking in Mathematics and Science
Professional learning opportunities for teachers of mathematics and science have increasingly focused on teachers' content knowledge. Strategies aimed at deepening teachers' disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge often include attention to student thinking, including analyzing student work and/or dialogue and opportunities to learn about common student ideas and misconceptions. Advice from experienced practitioners offers guidance for efforts to engage teachers with student thinking as a strategy for deepening their disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge. Insights provided by a group of expert practitioners with diverse backgrounds and experiences in working with teachers included the following ideas:
- Not any student work will do; selection of appropriate work samples makes a difference in giving teachers an opportunity to deepen their disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge.
- Teachers should first analyze a carefully crafted set of student work before analyzing their own students' work.
- Analysis of student work should include a focus on what students understand, not just what they do not understand.
- Practitioners have different perspectives on the level of teachers' content knowledge needed for the analysis of student understanding.
- The development and analysis of assessment items can provide opportunities to deepen teachers' understanding of mathematics/science content.
Teacher Content Knowledge Matters
Empirical evidence demonstrates that teachers' mathematics/science content knowledge makes a difference in their instructional practice and their students' achievement. Consistent findings across studies include:
- Teachers' mathematics/science content knowledge influences how teachers engage students with the subject matter.
- Teachers' mathematics/science content knowledge influences how teachers evaluate and use instructional materials.
- Teachers' mathematics/science content knowledge is related to what their students learn.
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Research on Engaging Teachers with Student Thinking in Mathematics and Science
Research studies of nine interventions that engaged teachers with student thinking in mathematics, as one of several strategies, were identified in a search of the published literature. All nine provided evidence of positive effects on teachers' disciplinary and/or pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics (Basista & Mathews, 2002; Clark & Schorr, 2000; Empson, 1999; Featherstone et al., 1995; Franke et al., 1998; Miller, 1991; Sowder, Philipp, Armstrong, & Schappelle, 1998; Stecher & Mitchell, 1995; Swafford, Jones, & Thornton, 1997; Swafford, Jones, Thornton, & Stump, 1999). Teacher participants in the interventions ranged from grade 1 to grade 12. Across the studies, topics in number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data/probability/statistics were addressed, as well as mathematical processes of communication, representation, and problem solving. Although no studies investigated the unique contribution of engaging teachers with student thinking in mathematics, consistent positive results across the programs support claims regarding its effectiveness in deepening teachers' disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics.
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The literature search surfaced five research studies of professional development programs that included engaging teachers with student thinking about science content. Each intervention included several strategies, and none was designed to measure the unique influence of attention to student thinking. Still, each one reported evidence that teachers' disciplinary and/or pedagogical content knowledge in science increased (Basista & Mathews, 2002; Puttick & Rosebery, Schibeci & Hickey, 2000; Shymansky et al., 1993; van Driel, Verloop, & de Vos, 1998). While teacher participants in the studies ranged from Kindergarten to grade 12, the research was focused on elementary and middle grades. Further, although earth, life, and physical science were represented, physical science was the most frequently studied content area.
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