PROCEEDINGS OF THE 16TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2013
Denver, Colorado
Crossing Community Boundaries: Collaboration Between Mathematicians and Mathematics Educators
Page: 2-420
Effective mathematics teachers are able to make connections between mathematical content and pedagogy in their professional practice. One of the most readily prescribed approaches for facilitating teachers’ ability to make such connections is through the development of collaborations between mathematicians and mathematics educators in venues related to teacher professional development. Most prior research related to collaborative endeavors between these two groups has focused on the products, rather than the process, of collaboration. In this preliminary research report, I present the results of an interpretative phenomenological case study that investigated the team-teaching experiences of a mathematician and a mathematics educator within the context of an undergraduate mathematics teacher preparation program. I present extracts from interviews that highlight the instructors’ perceptions related to crossing the boundaries of their professional communities of practice, and engage participants in discussion about relevant “boundary crossing” in their own institutional contexts.