PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2012
Portland, Oregon
Teacher Change in the Context of a Proof-Centered Professional Development
Page: 2-185
The case study reported here examines the development of proof schemes and teaching practices of one in-service secondary mathematics teacher who participated in an off-site professional development (PD) for two years. Two sources of data were examined: video footage of the teacher doing mathematics at an intensive summer institute and footage of her own classroom teaching. Previously, an analysis of the development of the participant’s proof schemes (Harel and Sowder, 1998) was reported, indicating a shift from Empirical to Deductive proof schemes. The current report focuses on the development of one participant’s teaching practices during the academic years following each summer institute characterizing the development of: the way the teacher solicited student ideas, handled students’ ways of understanding, capitalized on student thinking, and in the type of questions she posed. The report also includes theoretical connections between the development of the teacher’s proof schemes, teaching practices and the PD.