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What they notice in video: a study of prospective secondary mathematics teachers learning to teach

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Abstract

Most teacher preparation programs have embraced the use of video as an effective methodology for developing teachers’ noticing skills. This study focused on learning about what secondary mathematics prospective teachers (PSTs) were able to notice when viewing video of their own co-teaching, particularly in a microteaching setting that consisted of peers. PSTs documented their observations on an observation tool while re-watching their video and then identified and ranked their top three observations. The ranked noticing statements were analyzed based on a grounded theory approach. Overall, PSTs’ ranked observations were more likely to attend to students and had a strong focus on mathematics and student learning. Ranked observations equally demonstrated both broad and specific understanding of video moments and often made suggestions that something they noticed could be improved in the implementation stage, versus improvements in planning or changes in themselves. Results support PSTs’ use of video for developing noticing skills in teacher education programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University, 620 Farm Lane, 313 Erickson Hall, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Sarah A. Roller

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  1. Sarah A. Roller
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Correspondence to Sarah A. Roller.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Organizational tool for video observation

This tool is to help you document what you are noticing while watching your teaching video. The goal is to help you create a complete list of everything you noticed and then to have you focus in on the three observations that you think are the most important and why these stuck out as the most important to you.

Part 1: list of things I noticed…

Directions: While watching the video of yourself teaching, make a list of all the things you notice. The list doesn’t need to be in any particular order, just observations that you noticed and are now aware of from watching the video. I’ve placed some bullets below to get you started, but feel free to add more or use less depending on what you see in your video.

figure a

Part 2: prioritizing which observations were important

Directions: After watching the video and making your list of observations, you need to pick the top three things you noticed from your video. Rank these 1 (Most important observation), 2 (Next important), and 3 (Least important out of your top three observations). Write down what your observation was and then go into detail (at least a paragraph) as to why that specific observation was so important and how you decided to rank it there.

  1. 1.

    (Most important observation)

  2. 2.

    (2nd most important observation)

  3. 3.

    (3rd most important observation)

Appendix 2: interview protocol

  1. 1.

    Can you describe your experience teaching in microteaching lab.

    1. 1a.

      How did you feel about videotaping yourself?

    2. 1b.

      What was it like to go back and re-watch your teaching episode?

  2. 2.

    Can you describe what sorts of things you were able to notice in your video?

    1. 2a.

      How did you decide how to prioritize these observations?

  3. 3.

    On your observation tool, you ranked your top three observations. Can you describe how you decided on these three and their ranking?

    1. 3a.

      Can you tell me more about the reason you ranked specific observations above or below others?

  4. 4.

    In what ways did the set of three important observations influence your thinking about your teaching practice?

    1. 4a.

      If need to clarify: Teaching practice could be defined as: planning lessons, teaching lessons, and interacting with students

    2. 4b.

      Did these observations have any influence on your work in your field placement?

    3. 4c.

      Anything else from the larger list…

  5. 5.

    Thinking across the experience this year in recording and re-watching your own practice, in what ways was this process valuable to your development as a teacher?

    1. 5a.

      Thinking now about your experience in the internship year coming up, in what ways do you see the videotaping practice as supporting your work?

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Roller, S.A. What they notice in video: a study of prospective secondary mathematics teachers learning to teach. J Math Teacher Educ 19, 477–498 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-015-9307-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-015-9307-x

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