This project aims to: develop a collection of videocases and other teaching and learning materials to be used in professional development workshops for mathematics faculty who are responsible for teaching preservice elementary teachers (PSTs); evaluate the impact of these materials on both faculty participants and their students; enable mathematics faculty, who teach content courses for PSTs, to develop expertise in supporting PSTs' development of mathematics knowledge needed for teaching; and articulate the nature of specialized content knowledge mathematics teacher educators need to support PSTs' development of mathematics knowledge required for teaching. Preservice mathematics coursework often fails to adequately prepare PSTs for the work of teaching. The coursework frequently focuses on the learning of content giving limited attention to how such knowledge is used in teaching practice, while providing relatively few experiences in applying PSTs' knowledge to analyze solution strategies or appraise mathematical explanations. In addition, mathematics faculty who teach content need to understand how to create opportunities for PSTs to learn mathematics in ways needed for teaching, a view of teaching and learning with which they are often unfamiliar.
The overall goal of this two-year NSF TUE Type 1 project was to develop materials that were used in professional development workshops for mathematics faculty and to develop faculty expertise in supporting preservice teachers' development of mathematical knowledge for teaching, knowledge that is needed for effective teaching (Hill, Rowan & Ball, 2005). Specifically, we developed a collection of videocases and other teaching and learning materials that were used in professional development workshops for mathematics faculty who are responsible for teaching preservice elementary teachers at their institutions. In addition, we evaluated the impact of the professional development workshops on both faculty participants and their students (i.e., preservice teachers). Through individual interviews with participating faculty over the course of the project, we found little overall change in participants' understanding of mathematical knowledge for teaching. Most participants began the project with a thorough understanding of mathematical knowledge for teaching, and had the development of such knowledge a primary goal of their teaching preservice teachers. We also found little significant change in participants' students' (i.e., preservice teachers) development of mathematical knowledge for teaching over the course of the project. We did, however, find differences in the ways that participating faculty drew upon teaching practice in their teaching content courses. This analysis is reported in the following reference: Castro Superfine, A., & Li, W. (2013, November). Connecting to teaching practice in mathematics content courses for elementary preservice teachers. In Martinez, M., & Castro Superfine, A. (Eds.). (2013). Proceedings of the 35th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 156-159). Chicago, IL: University of Illinois at Chicago. We also disseminated information about the particular model for professional development we developed and employed in the project. This information is reported in the following references: Castro Superfine, A., & Li, W. (2014). Developing mathematical knowledge for teaching teachers: A model for the professional development of teacher educators. Issues in Teacher Education 23(1), 113-132. Castro Superfine, A., & Li, W. (2013, January). Understanding the work of mathematics teacher educators. Invited presentation for the annual meeting of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Orlando, FL. Finally, we analyzed participating faculty's work as they taught content courses for preservice teachers in order to understand the nature of the mathematical knowledge needed for teaching teachers and how such knowledge is different from that required to teach K-12 students. In doing so, our goal was to begin a broader discussion within the field of teacher education of the nature of the mathematical knowledge for teaching teachers. This analysis is reported in the following reference: Castro Superfine, A., & Li, W. (in press). Exploring the mathematical knowledge needed for teaching teachers. Journal of Teacher Education.
