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Developing Prospective Teachers’ Ability to Diagnose Evidence of Student Thinking: Replicating a Classroom Intervention

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Diagnostic Competence of Mathematics Teachers

Part of the book series: Mathematics Teacher Education ((MTEN,volume 11))

Abstract

In order for teachers to improve over time, they must be proficient at collecting and analyzing evidence of student thinking and learning (Hiebert, Morris, Berk, & Jansen, J Teacher Educ 58(1):47–60, 2007). This specific type of diagnostic competence, which focuses on diagnosing student learning with the specific goal of studying and improving teaching, can be improved through interventions in teacher education (see, e.g., Spitzer, Phelps, Beyers, Johnson, & Sieminski, JMTE 14(1):67–87, 2011). In this chapter, we discuss the findings of previous interventions aimed at helping prospective teachers (PTs) learn to analyze student thinking. Then, we present a replication study using a classroom intervention to teach prospective elementary teachers (N = 23) to identify and evaluate evidence of student understanding. Results of this study and previous work show that diagnostic competence is a skill that is teachable through interventions. After the intervention described in this chapter, participants performed better on a measure of diagnostic competence. In particular, they improved their ability to distinguish evidence of student thinking from nonevidence, such as a teacher’s lecture. They were also more likely to recognize that students’ procedural work cannot be used to diagnose conceptual understanding. Results will be used to suggest key features of interventions to improve diagnostic competence.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA

    Christine M. Phelps-Gregory

  2. Towson University, Towson, MD, USA

    Sandy M. Spitzer

Authors
  1. Christine M. Phelps-Gregory
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  2. Sandy M. Spitzer
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Correspondence to Christine M. Phelps-Gregory .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Education Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Timo Leuders

  2. School of Education, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Northwestern Switzerland, Basel, Switzerland

    Kathleen Philipp

  3. University of Education Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Juliane Leuders

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Phelps-Gregory, C.M., Spitzer, S.M. (2018). Developing Prospective Teachers’ Ability to Diagnose Evidence of Student Thinking: Replicating a Classroom Intervention. In: Leuders, T., Philipp, K., Leuders, J. (eds) Diagnostic Competence of Mathematics Teachers. Mathematics Teacher Education, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66327-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66327-2_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-66325-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66327-2

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