Prospective teachers’ cognitive engagement during virtual teaching using GeoGebra and Desmos

This study aimed to describe the self-regulated learning skills of prospective teachers studying at a public university in Istanbul and reveal their differences in relation to the components of these skills, namely motivation and taking action to learn, planning and goal-setting, strategy use and evaluation, and attachment in learning, as well as other variables, including their major, type of high school completed, age, gender, socioeconomic level and parents’ education level. It was also investigated whether there was a relationship between the participants’ self-regulated learning skills and their major and grade levels. The screening model was used in the research. The sample consisted of students studying at a public university in Istanbul in the 2018-2019 academic year and selected using the simple random sampling method. The participants comprised 926 first-, second-, third- and fourth-grade students attending the departments of computer education and instructional technology, classroom teaching, preschool teaching, mathematics teaching, science teaching, guidance and psychological counseling, Turkish language teaching, social studies teaching, special education, English language teaching, French language teaching, and German language teaching. The Self-Regulatory Learning Skills Scale (SRLSS) and a personal information form were used as the data collection tools. The findings of the research revealed that the prospective teachers had high scores in the subscales of SRLSS and the overall scale. It was concluded that the prospective science teachers had higher scores in planning and goal-setting than the students attending all other programs except for mathematics teaching. Furthermore, the scores of female prospective teachers in all subscales were higher than those of the male participants. Considering the type of high school, the participants that had completed basic high school scored higher in strategy use and evaluation compared to those that had finished other types of high school. When the prospective teachers’ self-regulated learning skills were analyzed according to their parents' education level, no significant difference was found. Keywords: self-regulated learning, prospective teachers, teacher education.

Mathematics teacher education research often focuses on ways teacher education can change prospective teachers' views in ways prescribed by teacher educators. In this paper, we explore a different perspective, one that emphasises the importance of understanding the diversity of views that prospective teachers bring to their teacher education programmes, not as a basis of change, but as a platform to build upon. In doing so, we make a case for ‘aestheticising’ mathematics teacher education research and propose an arts-based approach to analysing and presenting data concerning prospective teachers views on the teaching and learning of mathematics. We exemplify this approach by presenting a fictionalised dialogue between four prospective teachers from Sweden, based on interviews conducted prior to them entering teacher education.

The research presented in this paper aims to shed light on the complex role of mathematics teacher educators who led courses for prospective mathematics teachers. Theoretically, the research combines the documentational approach to didactics and the meta-didactical transposition frameworks, complementing the study with the analysis of the teacher educators’ beliefs about the prospective teachers’ needs. The methodology entails a comparative case study related to two courses, taking place in quite different contexts, led by the two authors independently, and a collaborative self-study of teacher education approach, based on eight reciprocal semi-structured interviews between the authors. The result is a holistic model of mathematics teacher educators’ work that takes into account their practices, including the design of teaching materials based on a variety of resources, justifying discourses and personal beliefs. This can deepen our insight into the expertise of mathematics teacher educators and, prospectively, can be fruitful for their professional development.

Prospective teachers bring countless stories of success and failure from different mathematics classrooms to their post-field teacher education courses. These reflective stories often glorify school mathematics classrooms and dominant traditions within, instead of confronting the marginalization of diverse groups in school environments. Mathematics teacher educators have a significant role to play in teaching prospective teachers to reflect critically on their field experiences and, in doing so, create spaces for disruption and disruptive pedagogies. Drawing on critical and equity-based theories applied within the fields of mathematics education and teacher education research, we propose a disruptive pedagogy analytical framework that enables us to study the roles and practices of mathematics teacher educators as they conduct their work in these post-field contexts of teacher education. In this paper, we introduce our disruptive pedagogy framework and present the results that followed from using it to analyze data from a research study in which mathematics teacher educators from across Canada and Norway were interviewed. We claim that our analytical framework can be used to identify those disruptive and transformative practices initiated by mathematics teacher educators—practices that are necessary to bring about shifts in inequitable and unjust classroom practices of school mathematics and in becoming a teacher. Unfortunately, however, results reported here point to the need for further shifts and growth toward more explicitly disruptive practices initiated by mathematics teacher educators in the post-field context.

There is compelling evidence on the effectiveness of bibliotherapy for facilitating one’s development. Arguably, in teacher education, bibliotherapy has been shown to facilitate prospective teachers’ professional development. However, teacher educators may experience difficulties in finding relevant reading to stimulate prospective teachers’ identification process, which is essential if the application of pedagogical bibliotherapy is to be successful. This study is situated in a mathematics education course for prospective elementary school teachers and explores the features of relevant pedagogical reading via analysis of four prospective elementary school teachers’ identification processes with two case descriptions. The identification here relates to the reading of the so-called true stories; prospective teachers read stories of other prospective teachers from the same teacher education context. We outline the recommendations for the selection of reading material when applying pedagogical bibliotherapy in order to assist prospective teachers’ professional development.

<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> Medical graduate education increasingly uses blended and online delivery, although students' academic self-regulation may be shaped by different motivational and cognitive processes across learning contexts, with emotional factors potentially playing a complementary role. Understanding how these mechanisms operate and whether their structural relationships differ between online/blended and face-to-face formats can inform targeted educational supports. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> The present investigation developed and tested a comparative causal model of academic self-regulation among medical graduate students in online/blended versus face-to-face programs. We examined how key motivational constructs (eg, academic self-efficacy, task value, future orientation, perfectionism, and academic help-seeking), positive achievement emotions, and cognitive factors (cognitive academic engagement and need for closure) relate to academic self-regulation, and whether these relationships differ by learning context. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> The design was cross-sectional, comparative causal modeling. Participants were master’s-level students at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences enrolled in either face-to-face (population n=1554; sample n=310) or blended/online (population n=449; sample n=205) programs selected using cluster sampling. Data were collected using validated instruments measuring academic self-regulation (Bouffard scale), academic self-efficacy (Midgley et al), academic engagement (Schaufeli &amp; Bakker), multidimensional perfectionism (Frost), academic help-seeking (Ryan &amp; Pintrich), task value (Pintrich), future orientation (Seginer), need for closure (DeBacker &amp; Crowson), and achievement emotions (AEQ; Pekrun et al). Data were analyzed using path analysis/structural equation modeling. Model fit was evaluated using χ²/df, CFI, GFI, AGFI, and RMSEA. Direct, indirect, and total effects were estimated for each group, and comparative interpretation focused on effect patterns and explained variance. </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> The hypothesized causal model reached an acceptable fit in both face-to-face and blended/online groups (χ²/df approximately &lt;3; CFI/GFI/AGFI in the acceptable range; RMSEA approximately 0.02–0.05). In both groups, most of the specified direct effects reached statistical significance, while the indirect effects of exogenous variables on academic self-regulation through intermediate constructs were supported overall. Cognitive academic engagement and academic self-efficacy were important proximal predictors of academic self-regulation. The need for closure had a negative direct effect with regard to academic self-regulation. However, a previously specified direct effect from need for closure to self-regulated learning strategies could not be retained in the final revised model. In both cohorts, the indirect pathway from positive achievement emotions to academic self-regulation via cognitive engagement was not supported, indicating that positive emotions alone were insufficient to increase self-regulation through cognitive engagement. The model explained a substantial proportion of variance in academic self-regulation in both groups—being approximately 0.44 in face-to-face and 0.46 in blended/online students—indicating comparable overall explanatory power across learning contexts. </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> A comparative causal model integrating motivational, emotional, and cognitive pathways provided an adequate explanation of academic self-regulation among medical graduate students in both face-to-face and blended/online formats. Findings highlight the central role of cognitive engagement and academic self-efficacy as proximal levers for supporting self-regulation across contexts. The lack of a supported indirect effect from positive emotions to self-regulation via cognitive engagement suggests that emotional experiences may not be enough unless they are accompanied by cognitively engaged learning behaviors. Considering motivational and cognitive mechanisms that together shape self-regulation within different delivery modes, educational interventions in medical graduate programs should focus on strengthening self-efficacy beliefs and cognitively engaged learning practices. </sec>

This study aims to explain how high school students’ misconceptions, cognitive engagement, and self-regulated learning levels change when using interactive e-books based on the prediction, observation, and explanation method for heat and temperature topics. It also aims to examine how the features of interactive e-books support eliminating misconceptions, cognitive engagement, and self-regulated learning. An explanatory mixed method was conducted with 31 high school students in this direction. The misconception detection test, self-regulated learning scale, cognitive engagement scale, and focus group interviews were used as data collection tools. The study found a significant difference between high school students’ misconceptions, cognitive engagement, and self-regulated learning levels before and after using interactive e-books based on the prediction, observation, and explanation processes. It was revealed that the interactive e-book is grounded on a specific learning method, covering different multimedia materials, providing critical applications related to the concepts discussed, providing students with a sense of managing their learning process, and allowing observations on examples from everyday life. The study concluded that these characteristics make it easier for the students to understand the differences between different concepts and support cognitive engagement and self-regulated learning.

Traditionally, research on mathematics teacher educators has been focused on what mathematics teacher educators (should) know to teach prospective teachers. However, few studies have addressed how mathematics teacher educators translate their mathematical and teaching knowledge into actual teaching practices, that is, modelling. This shift in focus implies new theoretical and methodological challenges. For instance, it is necessary to understand mathematics teacher educators’ teaching practices as situated practice oriented to prospective teachers and to investigate how they (can) get involved in this process. We suggest modelling as a crucial concept for studying mathematics teacher educators’ teaching practices and how prospective teachers experience these practices. We define modelling as the purposeful and explicit practice of displaying specific teaching behaviours with the aim of promoting professional learning among prospective teachers. We believe that the systematic use of modelling could provide new and valuable learning opportunities for both mathematics teacher educators and prospective teachers.

Transforming the education system from traditional teaching and learning into blended learning promotes the expansion of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in higher education institutions. Teacher education is also facilitated by offering accessible, flexible, and self-paced learning opportunities. This study aims to highlight the comparison of teacher educators and Prospective teachers’ Attitudes towards E-Learning in MOOCs. Using a descriptive survey method, data were collected through purposive sampling. In this study, a sample of 100 Teacher educators and 100 Prospective teachers was taken, respectively. An attitude scale was developed for both teacher educators and Prospective teachers. The findings revealed that there is no significant difference between the attitudes of teacher educators and Prospective teachers’ attitudes towards E-learning in MOOCs. The results have implications for instructional designers, policymakers, and teacher education institutions regarding the optimal utilization of MOOCs in pre-service teacher education.

Course literature in mathematics teacher education provides prospective teachers with conceptualizations of formative assessment practices, described both in terms of how to assess and the theoretical foundations behind assessment practices. If the practical and theoretical aspects are not clearly connected, prospective mathematics teachers may find formative assessment methods difficult to use and combine. Studying how formative assessment practices are justified in course literature is consequently a way of studying how such practices are justified within the teacher education in which they are used. We collected all compulsory readings from a Swedish teacher education program, downloading or scanning them. Through a thematic analysis, partly deductive and based on the theoretical concept of didactic praxeology, we identified four main theoretical ideas underpinning formative assessment methods: equality, student agency, relation to mathematics, and efficiency. We discuss how focusing on justifications of formative assessment practices can provide a more precise grammar for related practices.

The previous chief editor of the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, Professor Barbara Jaworski, often commented that each issue of the journal seems to have its own theme or common thread, even though the articles are published more or less in the order that they are ready for publication. It is intriguing to contemplate the commonalities that seem to link together otherwise randomly written articles. This issue of the journal includes four articles that happen to be now ready for publication. The first article, by Michelle Chamberlin, Jeff Farmer and Jodie Novak, titled Teachers’ perceptions of assessing their mathematical knowledge in a professional development course, addresses a key topic in mathematics teacher education that of mathematical content knowledge. Normally teacher educators shy away from assessing the mathematical knowledge and understandings of practising teachers with whom they work, but these authors overcome the usual concerns by including specific well-designed assessments of mathematics as part of a teacher professional learning experience. The examples they chose were designed so that failure would not have been a reflection on the teachers’ past learning, thereby reducing some of the obvious threats that such assessments create. Their finding was that the assessment and the emphasis on mathematical knowledge enhanced the teacher professional learning, and was recognised as such by the teachers. The second article, by Blake Peterson and Steven Williams, titled Learning mathematics for teaching in the student teaching experience: Two contrasting cases, examines the relationship between a supervising teacher and prospective teachers during student teaching or practical placements. One of the case studies is about a restricted range of supporting actions that perhaps reflected the perspective of the supervising teacher, and the other case study describes a set of productive experiences that clearly lay the foundation for rich, reflective learning. The implication is that the supervising teacher matters, and that the quality of the student teaching placement is directly connected to immediate opportunities for teacher professional learning. The third article, by Peter Grootenboer, titled Mathematical belief change in prospective primary teachers reports a prospective teacher program that focused on facilitating

BackgroundThere is a strong association between interactions and cognitive engagement, which is crucial for constructing new cognition and knowledge. Although interactions and cognitive engagement have attracted extensive attention in online learning environments, few studies have revealed the evolution of cognitive engagement with interaction levels.ObjectivesThe study aims to automatically identify learners' interactions and cognitive engagement and then analyse the evolution of learners' cognitive engagement with interaction levels and during different stages of online learning.MethodsThe participants of the study were learners who participated in an online open course. Their text data from discussion forums on five learning themes were collected. Data were analysed using text mining and ENA.ResultsLearners' cognitive engagement in online learning was related to interaction levels. As learners' online interaction levels changed from surface to deep, cognitive engagement levels changed from low to high. With the continuous occurrence of deep interactions, cognitive feedback became more complex. At the social–emotional interaction level, although learners' cognitive engagement levels began to change from low to high, complex cognitive feedback was still insufficient. In addition, the analysis of the evolution of cognitive engagement during different stages of online learning showed that learners' patterns of cognitive engagement changed significantly as the learning process continued, from initially dynamic and complex to a stable development pattern.ImplicationsThe results of the study are of theoretical significance and practical guidance for further understanding the relationship between online interaction levels and cognitive engagement as well as the process of online collaborative knowledge exploration, construction, and even connectivity.

Recent studies relating the affective domain with the teaching and learning of mathematics, and more specifically with mathematics problem solving, have focused on teacher education. The authors of these studies have been ever more insistently pointing to the need to design educational programs that take an integrated cognitive and affective approach to mathematics education. Given this context, we have designed and implemented a program of intervention on mathematics problem solving for prospective primary teachers. We here describe some results of that program.

The expertise of novices: A framework for prospective teacher’s noticing of children’s mathematical thinking

Mathematical Modelling and Technology in Teacher Education – Visions and Reality