A group of students studying to become mathematics teachers were asked to comment on the tutor fe... more A group of students studying to become mathematics teachers were asked to comment on the tutor feedback they received during teaching practice (TP) and to offer suggestions aimed at improving this feedback. Analysis of the written data – which was collected through emails – suggests the need for: (i) all TP tutors to provide good quality feedback; (ii) action aimed at deepening students’ understanding of feedback; and (iii) feedback improvement strategies that take into consideration the students’ sense of practicality. The ensuing discussion serves to promote the idea that teachers-to-be can learn a lot about the constructive role of feedback when they observe their tutors managing successfully during TP the inherent tensions between the formative and summative dimensions of assessment. This would require however a shift in pre-service teacher education from simply ‘teaching by telling’ to also ‘teaching by example’.
Basing ourselves on a case study in which one of us successfully taught mathematics to an adult b... more Basing ourselves on a case study in which one of us successfully taught mathematics to an adult blind student on a one-to-one basis and her more recent positive experience of teaching a blind student within a regular classroom, we try to shed light on the mathematics education of blind students and the ramifications that this carries for the inclusion of blind students in mathematics classrooms. The ensuing discussion is embedded within the inclusion discourse that is gradually evolving in educational spheres. Our paper ultimately carries a message of hope: not only can blind students learn mathematics and get certified for it, but it seems that they can also do so within a normal classroom situation.
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice Publication details, including instruction... more Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713404048 Teachers' assessments of students' learning of mathematics Michael A. Buhagiar a; Roger Murphy b a Junior College, University of Malta, Msida, Malta b School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
This paper presents the story of John, a mathematics teacher, who embraced 'change&#3... more This paper presents the story of John, a mathematics teacher, who embraced 'change' at a rather advanced stage of his teaching career. As part of this development, he managed to transform his largely traditional practices to practices that advance inquiry-based learning, a pedagogical approach that is aligned to the reform visions for mathematics teaching and learning. Moreover, John is now also committed to promote this 'new' approach among other mathematics teachers. Drawing on narrative research, his case was studied to shed insights on what facilitates or hinders teacher learning and change. The narrative was co-constructed between John and the author in the form of a 'conversation' that originated from a number of Messenger chats on Facebook. The thematic analysis of the data revealed four distinct phases, so far, in John's journey towards becoming a teacher. The journey through these phases is of particular interest to anyone concerned about the impact that different teacher education initiatives have on teacher learning and change. Overall, John's story suggests that teacher change, while possibly not linear and enduring, can happen and appears to be facilitated by certain factors. These include willingness and capacity on teacher's part to change, the availability of opportunity to change, the development of a professional learning community, and the presence of someone at school who is capable and willing to lead and support teacher learning among colleagues.
This paper is based on a qualitative study that explored the classroom assessment practices of tw... more This paper is based on a qualitative study that explored the classroom assessment practices of twelve mathematics teachers in a Maltese sixth form college. As part of the data gathering process, these teachers were presented with four tasks (which varied along a continuum from the traditional examination-type to the non-traditional type) and were asked to comment about the appropriateness of using them inside their classroom. The analysis revealed that teachers’ task selection largely reflects what they consider ‘to work within their context’ rather than what they consider as ‘ideal’. Three levels of context that influence, both on their own and interactively, the way in which teachers make their classroom decisions were identified. These are the national, school and personal contexts. Situating the paper within teacher thinking research he term ‘teacher thinking’, albeit used fairly loosely by educational researchers, ‘has come to unite a body of research which, although starting f...
... 9725 Michael A. Buhagiar michael.buhagiar@um.edu.mt Michael A. Buhagiar teaches Pure Mathemat... more ... 9725 Michael A. Buhagiar michael.buhagiar@um.edu.mt Michael A. Buhagiar teaches Pure Mathematics at the University of Malta Junior College, which he joined when it was set up in 1995. He holds B.Ed.(Hons.) and M.Ed. ...
This review paper explores the role of the teacher in classroom assessment within the parameters ... more This review paper explores the role of the teacher in classroom assessment within the parameters set by the demands and expect ations of the new, alternative assessment paradigm. After briefly outl ining the unde rlying philosophy of this new paradigm, classroom assessme nt is presented as a cycle of four interrelated phases – namely, ‘planning the activity’, ‘gathering the evidence’, ‘interpreting the evidence’ and ‘usi ng the evidence’. Within each phase, teachers’ classroom assessment practices are discussed in relation to how these compare with what is needed i n order to bring assessment at the service of learning, which lies a t the heart of our new understanding of assessment. The realisation that, generally spea king, teachers’ assessment practices remain firmly anchor ed to the traditional assessment theories and policies sends a clear sign l that something needs to be done unless we want to risk reversing, with grav e consequences for learning, the whole assessment reform ...
A group of students studying to become mathematics teachers were asked to comment on the tutor fe... more A group of students studying to become mathematics teachers were asked to comment on the tutor feedback they received during teaching practice (TP) and to offer suggestions aimed at improving this feedback. Analysis of the written data – which was collected through emails – suggests the need for: (i) all TP tutors to provide good quality feedback; (ii) action aimed at deepening students’ understanding of feedback; and (iii) feedback improvement strategies that take into consideration the students’ sense of practicality. The ensuing discussion serves to promote the idea that teachers-to-be can learn a lot about the constructive role of feedback when they observe their tutors managing successfully during TP the inherent tensions between the formative and summative dimensions of assessment. This would require however a shift in pre-service teacher education from simply ‘teaching by telling’ to also ‘teaching by example’.
Basing ourselves on a case study in which one of us successfully taught mathematics to an adult b... more Basing ourselves on a case study in which one of us successfully taught mathematics to an adult blind student on a one-to-one basis and her more recent positive experience of teaching a blind student within a regular classroom, we try to shed light on the mathematics education of blind students and the ramifications that this carries for the inclusion of blind students in mathematics classrooms. The ensuing discussion is embedded within the inclusion discourse that is gradually evolving in educational spheres. Our paper ultimately carries a message of hope: not only can blind students learn mathematics and get certified for it, but it seems that they can also do so within a normal classroom situation.
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice Publication details, including instruction... more Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713404048 Teachers' assessments of students' learning of mathematics Michael A. Buhagiar a; Roger Murphy b a Junior College, University of Malta, Msida, Malta b School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
This paper presents the story of John, a mathematics teacher, who embraced 'change&#3... more This paper presents the story of John, a mathematics teacher, who embraced 'change' at a rather advanced stage of his teaching career. As part of this development, he managed to transform his largely traditional practices to practices that advance inquiry-based learning, a pedagogical approach that is aligned to the reform visions for mathematics teaching and learning. Moreover, John is now also committed to promote this 'new' approach among other mathematics teachers. Drawing on narrative research, his case was studied to shed insights on what facilitates or hinders teacher learning and change. The narrative was co-constructed between John and the author in the form of a 'conversation' that originated from a number of Messenger chats on Facebook. The thematic analysis of the data revealed four distinct phases, so far, in John's journey towards becoming a teacher. The journey through these phases is of particular interest to anyone concerned about the impact that different teacher education initiatives have on teacher learning and change. Overall, John's story suggests that teacher change, while possibly not linear and enduring, can happen and appears to be facilitated by certain factors. These include willingness and capacity on teacher's part to change, the availability of opportunity to change, the development of a professional learning community, and the presence of someone at school who is capable and willing to lead and support teacher learning among colleagues.
This paper is based on a qualitative study that explored the classroom assessment practices of tw... more This paper is based on a qualitative study that explored the classroom assessment practices of twelve mathematics teachers in a Maltese sixth form college. As part of the data gathering process, these teachers were presented with four tasks (which varied along a continuum from the traditional examination-type to the non-traditional type) and were asked to comment about the appropriateness of using them inside their classroom. The analysis revealed that teachers’ task selection largely reflects what they consider ‘to work within their context’ rather than what they consider as ‘ideal’. Three levels of context that influence, both on their own and interactively, the way in which teachers make their classroom decisions were identified. These are the national, school and personal contexts. Situating the paper within teacher thinking research he term ‘teacher thinking’, albeit used fairly loosely by educational researchers, ‘has come to unite a body of research which, although starting f...
... 9725 Michael A. Buhagiar michael.buhagiar@um.edu.mt Michael A. Buhagiar teaches Pure Mathemat... more ... 9725 Michael A. Buhagiar michael.buhagiar@um.edu.mt Michael A. Buhagiar teaches Pure Mathematics at the University of Malta Junior College, which he joined when it was set up in 1995. He holds B.Ed.(Hons.) and M.Ed. ...
This review paper explores the role of the teacher in classroom assessment within the parameters ... more This review paper explores the role of the teacher in classroom assessment within the parameters set by the demands and expect ations of the new, alternative assessment paradigm. After briefly outl ining the unde rlying philosophy of this new paradigm, classroom assessme nt is presented as a cycle of four interrelated phases – namely, ‘planning the activity’, ‘gathering the evidence’, ‘interpreting the evidence’ and ‘usi ng the evidence’. Within each phase, teachers’ classroom assessment practices are discussed in relation to how these compare with what is needed i n order to bring assessment at the service of learning, which lies a t the heart of our new understanding of assessment. The realisation that, generally spea king, teachers’ assessment practices remain firmly anchor ed to the traditional assessment theories and policies sends a clear sign l that something needs to be done unless we want to risk reversing, with grav e consequences for learning, the whole assessment reform ...
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