Page 157 - Children’s mathematical development and learning needs in perspective of teachers’ use of dynamic math interviews
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Dynamic math interviews to identify children’s math learning needs
Procedure
After participants were recruited, an information meeting was organised in two regions of the Netherlands. The teachers were given printed information about the study and a factsheet about the data collection methods. Later via e-mail, the teachers consented to being observed and video-recorded during the teaching of a regular mathematics lesson on the topic of fractions or ratios. Each teacher was observed and recorded teaching a mathematics lesson on two occasions (T1, T2). The lessons were scored using the ICALT+S. And the teachers were debriefed following observation.
Paper and pencils versions of the MMQC and TTA were administered in the classroom. Administration lasted approximately 35 minutes. The Cito mathematics achievement data were obtained from the participating teachers, with parental consent. On the same day, the teacher taught a mathematics lesson, which was recorded and scored using the ICALT+S. The teachers were debriefed after measurement and later informed of the results.
The intervention entailed a teacher professional development program consisting of four meetings with a duration four hours each, followed by a period of dynamic math interview practice. The program followed the design features recommended for professional development training purposes (e.g., Van Driel et al., 2012). The professional development program prototype was reviewed by experts and fine-tuned several times. The first author, an expert teacher trainer, organised and conducted the sessions. The program included an explanation of the protocol for a dynamic math interview, mathematical knowledge for teaching related to dynamic math interviews (e.g., understanding student errors), video examples of dynamic math interviews, and peer feedback on practiced and video recorded dynamic math interviews. Each teacher also received individual feedback from the teacher trainer on two occasions: once before the first meeting and once after the last meeting. On these two occasions, the teachers were asked to conduct dynamic math interviews for three self-selected word math problems from the Cito mathematics test in a manner they considered suitable. During the subsequent dynamic math interview practice period, the 19 teachers conducted and recorded the dynamic
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