Characterising Features of Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Classroom Practices with Dynamic Digital Technology: The Case of Geometric Similarity

Much research has shown that mathematics teachers have struggled to integrate dynamic mathematical technologies (DMTs) in everyday classroom practice and their use of technology has thus been limited. Developing a comprehensive understanding of teachers’ practices is important to promote successful integration of DMT into the classroom. Currently, little is known about the complex process of integration of DMT and the associated professional knowledge of practice (PKP) required for teachers, particularly for teaching geometric similarity (GS). This study examines lower secondary mathematics teachers’ integration of DMT into their classroom practices with a particular focus on the topic of GS. The study adopted a multiple case study approach and was situated in an English lower secondary school setting. Participants of the study were three teachers who had different levels of experience and expertise both in teaching and in using DMT. The participants were selected among the Cornerstone Maths (CM) project teachers as they had begun to integrate the DMT, the CM software, in their practices to teach GS. Data collection involved video-recorded classroom observations (including the teacher’s eye view), audio-recorded post-lesson teacher interviews, and teachers’ resources and students’ work. The theoretical lenses of the Structuring Features of Classroom Practice (SFCP) framework along with the Instrumental Orchestration (IO) model guided data collection and analysis. The findings revealed salient differences and some commonalities between the teachers, pointing to key characteristics of classroom practices involving DMT for teaching GS. The findings of this thesis contribute to further appreciation of the complex phenomenon of technology integration into the classroom. This study also makes an original contribution to the literature by adopting the SFCP framework for teaching the topic of GS with DMT. Implications discussed in the thesis could inform practitioners, educators and policy makers about how to facilitate teacher interaction with DMT for productive mathematical learning