Investigating a model using video stories for professional development for algebra teachers of low SES minority students

This study presents results of the design and implementation of The Teacher’s Algebra Workshop(TAW), a professional development intervention. Video stories of urban students’ early algebra learning were created by this researcher for this intervention. The video stories feature predominantly black and minority students engaged in mathematical reasoning, making and revising conjectures, and challenging one another. Four stories illustrate 12-year-old boys who participated in an NSF funded Informal Math Learning after school program in an urban school district. The video stories show the boys engaged in persistent problem-solving of “Guess my Rule” problems. as an introduction to linear functions. The TAW video stories were assembled using the RUAnalytic tool and video data stored in the Video Mosaic Collaborative (VMC), a research library from Rutgers University Libraries. The intervention was designed to engage teachers (TAW participants) by studying video narratives of student learning from a social constructivist perspective. Five teachers participated in the four-day TAW workshops in August 2016. Each day, guided by specific questions, teachers discussed the mathematics, the pedagogy, and students’ engagement in the stories. These discussions were audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed to identify what the teachers noticed in these key areas. The research question that guided the study include: Do urban teachers noticed the potential of pedagogy that challenges and engages students in their early algebra learning? Analysis of data indicated rich discussions among the teacher participants. They noticed key aspects of social constructivist pedagogy including teacher patience, engaging lessons, guiding questions and recognition of the students’ enthusiasm as they persevered in problem-solving. Results suggest using the video narratives for teacher professional development as well as conducting a scaled-up study using the artifacts created for this intervention and expanding the content to other mathematical topics.Ed.D.Includes bibliographical reference