PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
Analyzing collegiate mathematics observation protocols: Attending to the instructional triangle and inquiry-based mathematics education practices
Page: 422
Typically, departments and universities evaluate and provide feedback to college mathematics instructors on their teaching by conducting classroom observations. When these observations are guided by an observation protocol, the protocol provides a particular lens that focuses the observer’s attention on certain aspects of instruction. To understand the way in which mathematics departments are currently evaluating teaching, we investigated the structure, focus, and alignment with inquiry-based mathematics education practices of items on 25 observation protocols. The results suggest that protocols mainly include closed-response items that are evaluative, focus more on the instructor than the students or the content, and rarely attend to inquiry-based mathematics education practices. These results have implications for both those who develop observation protocols and those who use observation protocols as a measure of teaching practices. In particular, our study highlights the need for careful consideration to be taken when observations are used for performance measures.