A marriage of continuance: professional development for mathematics lecturers
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Abstract
In a 2-year project, we developed and trialled a mode of lecturing professional development amongst staff in our department of mathematics. Theoretically grounded in Schoenfeld’s resources, orientations, and goals (ROG) model of teacher action, a group met regularly to discuss both the video excerpts of themselves lecturing along with written pre- and post-lecture statements of their “ROGs”. We found evidence of improved teaching performance but more interestingly, identified key aspects of our practice and of undergraduate mathematics that received repeated attention and developed further theoretical insight into lecturer behaviour in mathematics. The trial has been successful enough to be expanded into further groups that now constitute a professional development culture within our department.
Keywords
Professional development Mathematics Lecturing Undergraduate Orientations GoalsNotes
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the support of a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) grant funded through the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. We also recognise the collaborative work of the following team members on the project: Steven Galbraith, Mike Meylan, Claire Postlethwaite, and Steve Taylor.
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