Teachers of Mathematics as Pedagogical Designers

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Teachers of Mathematics as Pedagogical Designers (TeaM-PeD) is a WKU funded project sponsored by the Research & Creative Activities Program. The project takes place between Summer 2022 and Spring 2023 and is led by co-Investigators Dr. Hope Marchionda and Dr. Nicholas Fortune from the Department of Mathematics. TeaM-PeD has partnered with Logan County School District and throughout the project duration, there will be several professional development opportunities for K-3 mathematics teachers. The overall goal of the project is to increase teacher’s pedagogical design capacity in an effort to improve mathematics instruction to support student understanding and performance. During the professional development sessions, teachers will:

• Critique mathematics tasks, appropriate for grade level, in terms of the task’s cognitive demand (i.e., high or low) and its connection to content standards,
• Modify mathematics tasks to increase the cognitive demand of the task to high level and differentiate the task for learners (when appropriate),
• Identify student misconceptions to strengthen tasks prior to implementation or to improve tasks for future teachings,
• Implement mathematics tasks at a high level using the Standards for Mathematical Practice (http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/),
• Reflect, in writing, on task design and implementation for future teachings, and
• Create a habit of practice whereby each year tasks are modified and improved upon based on teaching experiences and student needs.