Addressing process-related skills in German mathematics instruction – A video study of the professional development program SINUS for Primary Schools

Author(s):

Marleen Menk(submitting)Inger Marie Dalehefte(presenting)Olaf Köller

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 09 C,

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-10

11:00-12:30

Room:

209.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Kathleen Nolan

Contribution

The relatively low performances of German students in international comparative studies like TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) and PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) initiated changes in the German educational system. Like in many other countries the perspective changed from a predominant focus on input controlled (curriculum controlled) to more output controlled (focus on students competencies) teaching. In Germany, new educational standards were developed that address process-related and content-related levels of competence. Students are supposed to reach certain standards at the end of several grades and in several subjects. This is supposed to have both a retrospective and a developmental function and also to equip students with competencies that are needed to provide a basis for lifelong altercation with mathematical requirements (KMK, 2004).

Important issues in implementing standards are to inform and convince teachers about these standards, as well as to support them in considering standards in instruction and convert criteria into practice (BMBF, 2003). One aim of the program SINUS for Primary Schools was to inform teachers about educational standards and to enable them in using them in their every day teaching. In the following, we describe how teacher professionalization was conducted in the program.

SINUS for Primary School

SINUS for primary school was a nationwide German teaching development program for elementary mathematics and science education. Working basis for the 5500 participating teachers in 840 schools were 10 “modules” and 5 “key objects” which dealt with empirically proven problem areas in education and supported teachers work. One important key object was “implementing educational standards (in mathematics)”.

The study presented focusses on educational standards for mathematics in primary schools and aims in particular to investigate the implementation of methods supporting process-related competencies.

It is assumed that these competencies (modelling, arguing, communicating, representing, problem-solving and basic technical skills) are important prerequisites for successful outcomes of mathematical instructions (Selter, 2004). Findings of different studies showed that some of the educational standards of competence hardly ever occur in German lessons (Neubrand et al, 2011). Results from the scientific research of SINUS for primary school though showed an orientation of the SINUS teachers towards the educational standards in their choice of instructional tasks (Walther et al, 2013). This study aims to investigate whether this finding, obtained by subjective assessments of teachers, can be observed in a video study. For a professional development program, classroom observation is a valuable research tool to obtain an impression of how program features are implemented in instruction.

Research questions:

1) To what extent can an orientation towards educational standards be observed in primary school instruction? What areas of process-related competencies are encouraged and supported in the investigated lessons from grade 1 to 4?

2) How do the findings of the SINUS-group differ from a control group with regard to the implementation of educational standards, respectively process-related competencies in the classroom?

Method

The data basis consists of video recordings of mathematical lessons (grade 1 to 4) in classes of 10 SINUS-teachers (21 lessons) and 9 teachers (9 lessons) from a control group who were not participating in the program. All teachers participated voluntarily. The lessons were recorded during the years 2010 - 2013 and videotaped according to standardized guidelines. SINUS-teachers were videotaped one to three times in their mathematics and/or science classes during the program. The teachers in the control group were videotaped only once at the end of the program. The videos were analyzed using a low inferent category system addressing the following competencies: modelling, arguing, communicating, representing, problem-solving and basic technical skills. The quality of the category system meets with international standards (Cohens’ Kappa >.75).

Expected Outcomes

In this presentation, we present descriptive results from the video study in SINUS for Primary Schools. While some process-related-competencies occur relatively often (basic technical skills, communicating), others are rarely addressed (modelling, problem solving). The findings show that teachers from both samples address process-related-competencies in their instruction, but to a different extent. We could also identify distinctions between classes with younger and older children which indicate that some competencies are introduced at different stages in school. The category system has proven to be functional for the purpose of identifying process-related competencies. Further possibilities to analyze the quality of the initiating process are discussed. It is also discussed to what extent the differences can be related to the effectiveness of the program. The analyses provide interesting information about successful implementation of educational standards in instruction that are important for teachers (further) education.

References

BMBF. (2003). Zur Entwicklung nationaler Bildungsstandards. Eine Expertise. Bonn: BMBF. KMK., (2004). Bildungsstandards im Fach Mathematik für den Primarbereich (Jahrgangsstufe 4). Beschluss vom 15.10.2004. Bonn: Luchterhand. Retrieved from http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/veroeffentlichungen_beschluesse/2004/2004_10_15-Bildungsstandards-Mathe-Primar.pdf Neubrand, M., Jordan, A., Krauss, S., Blum, W. & Löwen, K. (2011). Aufgaben im COACTIV-Projekt: Einblicke in das Potenzial für kognitive Aktivierung im Mathematikunterricht. In M. Kunter, J. Baumert, W. Blum, U. Klusmann, S.Krauss & M. Neubrand (Hrsg.), Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften - Ergebnisse des Forschungsprogramms COACTIV (115-132). Münster: Waxmann. Selter, C. (2004). Erforschen, Entdecken und Erklären im Mathematikunterricht der Grundschule. Retrieved from http://www.sinus-an-grundschulen.de/fileadmin/uploads/Material_aus_STG/Mathe-Module/M2.pdf Walther, G., Döring, B. & Fischer, C. (2013). Aufgabenauswahl, -analyse und –variation. Welche kompetenzfördernden Merkmale von Mathematiksaufgaben nutzen Lehrkräfte in einem Professionalisierungsprogramm an Grundschulen? In: Greefrath, G., Käpnick, F. & Stein, M. (Hrsg.). Beiträge zum Mathematikunterricht 2013 Vorträge auf der 47. Tagung für Didaktik der Mathematik vom 04.03.2013 bis 08.03.2013 in Münster (1058-1061). Münster: WTM Verlag.

Author Information

Marleen Menk (submitting)

Leibniz-Institute for Science Education and Mathematics (IPN) at the University of Kiel, Germany

Inger Marie Dalehefte (presenting)

University of Agder

Olaf Köller