Electronic Proceedings
of the 12th Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics
Abstract for 12393
Using Videotaped Components of Lesson Study
to Build Communities of
Practice for Prospective
Mathematics Teachers
Authors: Jack Carter, Beverly Ferrucci
Affiliations: California State University, East Bay, Keene State
College
Keywords: Undergraduate Level, Equivalence Relations, Lesson Study,
Videos
Two tiers of pre-service mathematics teachers participated in an
exploratory investigation in which components of lesson study were
used to develop, teach, refine, revise, re-teach, and evaluate a
unit on mathematical relations. Twelve fourth-year prospective
mathematics teachers served as the instructional developers,
planners, analyzers, and instructors for the unit, and twenty-five,
second-year future elementary school mathematics teachers
participated as students.
Videotapes of the lesson study and the instruction showed that the
fourth-year pre-service teachers were modestly successful in
developing their second-year peers’ understanding of the properties
of a mathematical relation, primarily by using arrow diagrams and
relations on sets of people to give meaning to the properties.
Analysis of the videotapes and written lessons showed that the
participants who taught the lessons were prone to tell their
students about relations without providing tasks for the students to
conjecture and construct their own relations.
The fourth-year pre-service mathematics teachers prepared a final
paper reflecting on their experiences with the lesson study. A
review of the final papers showed that these participants valued:
(1) the opportunity to experience the lesson study process within
the setting of an academic classroom, (2) the opportunity to work in
a group to develop and improve a lesson, and (3) the experience of
observing, and in some cases teaching, a lesson that incorporated
the joint efforts of other participants.
In retrospect, most of the participants also indicated that they
would include more examples in the instructional unit, more examples
of equivalence relations, more mathematical examples, and more
examples generated and constructed by the students. Increasing class
participation was also a concern expressed by most participants.