Exam 1
Overview & Rationale
You can only learn so much about what students know and can do from their written work. An important part of assessment in mathematics teaching is being able to use questions or other teacher moves to support students to explain their mathematical thinking. Once students have shared their thinking, you need to be able to recognize, in the moment, how students' thinking and solution strategies connect to the mathematical learning goals of a lesson. Doing so requires an in depth understanding of the key mathematical ideas and concepts that are necessary for students' to learn particular mathematical content. This exam is designed to help you develop and demonstrate your ability to identify and analyze students' mathematical thinking and the teacher questioning/discourse strategies that elicit and respond to that thinking.
Activities
Exam completed individually and online either Week 7 (Oct 21) or Week 8 (Oct 28).
When you begin the exam, you will be assigned two videos, one Problem Solving Talk and one Number Talk. You will have three hours to:
- Analyze both videos for evidence of children's mathematical thinking about number and operation.
- Analyze the effectiveness of teacher discourse moves used by the interviewer/teacher.
Learning Objectives
Demonstrate knowledge of mathematics concepts, practices, and curriculum:
- You can describe the key concepts necessary for the development of counting and whole number operations.
Demonstrate knowledge of students as learners of mathematics:
- You can analyze students’ problem solving strategies to provide evidence of what students know and can do.
Demonstrate pedagogical knowledge and practices for teaching mathematics:
- You can analyze teacher discourse moves to provide evidence of their effectiveness in eliciting and responding to students’ mathematical thinking.