Date of Award

8-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School

College of Science and Mathematics

Department/Program

Mathematics

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Joseph DeNapoli

Committee Member

Steven Greenstein

Committee Member

Kathryn Herr

Abstract

Modeling with mathematics (MP4) is a mathematical practice standard that can be used to engage students in mathematical content standards as well as additional mathematical practice standards. Research has shown the benefits of mathematical modeling (e.g., Aguirre et al., 2019; Cirillo et al., 2016a), but also the challenges teachers can face implementing modeling (e.g., Asempapa & Sturgill, 2019; Manouchehri, 2017). This dissertation aimed to explore how mathematical modeling professional development was responsively designed and facilitated to support teachers’ pedagogical goals (RQ1). This dissertation also aimed to explore how my role as the designer and facilitator of professional development evolved (RQ2) and how teachers’ pedagogy related to facilitating students’ modeling presentations evolved (RQ3) over the course of the 2022-2023 school year. This dissertation took an action research approach in addressing the three research questions. I served as an insider teacher-researcher who met with participating teachers regularly and designed and facilitated the professional development sessions. I collected data through the professional development sessions, surveys, interviews, classroom recordings, my research journal, and a teacher reflection journal. Then I used the constant comparative method to analyze each data source and address each research question. The professional development sessions were responsively designed and facilitated (RQ1) through co-constructed professional development sessions and community building. My role as the designer and facilitator of the professional development sessions (RQ2) evolved from sharing research-based practices and focusing on teachers’ goal of facilitating students’ modeling presentations to leveraging teachers’ experiences and creating space for their additional pedagogical goals. Teachers’ pedagogy related to facilitating students’ modeling presentations (RQ3) evolved in several ways, including teacher questioning and commenting. In the beginning of the school year, teachers were more focused on making sense of students’ modeling solutions by asking questions that gathered information and probed for student thinking, while toward the end of the year, teachers focused more on increasing the validity of students’ modeling solutions through establishing context and orienting and refocusing questioning strategies. Findings related to RQ3 help support a proposed preliminary framework for analyzing teacher questioning/commenting during students’ presentation of modeling solutions.

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