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Theory and Practice of Lesson Study in Mathematics pp 393–418Cite as

Representing Instructional Improvement in Lesson Study through Principled Analysis of Research Lessons in Singapore: A Case of Equivalent Fractions

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Part of the book series: Advances in Mathematics Education ((AME))

Abstract

This chapter reports our effort in developing a principled way of representing instructional improvement in lesson study in the form of a process analysis, based on a thorough analysis of classroom discourse of four research lessons on equivalent fractions, a third-grade topic in Singapore, which we conducted at the early stage of our lesson study work in 2006–2007. Our social-cultural view guided a systematic effort in making consistent and iterative improvements within an instructional system mediated dynamically at multilevels – the content, discourse, activity, tasks, and tools level. Each level of the analysis was conceptualized to build coding schemes. The coded patterns were quantitatively and qualitatively presented to indicate how a balance in mathematical representation was achieved and how construction of the meaning-making was escalated across the research lessons. This principled way of representation has not only enabled us to represent and articulate the instructional improvements systematically but also further informed and improved our own ongoing lesson study with teachers locally and the lesson study work globally.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Project was funded (2006–2008) by the Center for Research in Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP), National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Yanping Fang & Christine Lee Kim-Eng

  2. Secondary Education, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Xiong Wang

Authors
  1. Yanping Fang
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  2. Xiong Wang
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  3. Christine Lee Kim-Eng
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Correspondence to Yanping Fang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, USA

    Rongjin Huang

  2. College of Education, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Akihiko Takahashi

  3. College of Education, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Pedro da Ponte

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Fang, Y., Wang, X., Kim-Eng, C.L. (2019). Representing Instructional Improvement in Lesson Study through Principled Analysis of Research Lessons in Singapore: A Case of Equivalent Fractions. In: Huang, R., Takahashi, A., da Ponte, J.P. (eds) Theory and Practice of Lesson Study in Mathematics. Advances in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04031-4_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04031-4_19

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