Collaborative Research: Noticing Numeracy Now (N3)

This project consists of a research program focused on the mathematics preparation of preservice elementary teachers. Historically, preservice elementary teachers (PSETs) demonstrate diverse and uneven conceptualizations of key ideas related to the effective teaching and learning of mathematics often coupled with negative or ambivalent attitudes towards the discipline. The goal of this project is to determine the extent to which an innovative learning experience focused on the professional noticing of children’s numeracy develops preservice teachers’ capacity to attend to, interpret, and respond appropriately to the mathematical thinking of individual children. Specifically, we intend to answer the following research questions: 1) To what extent can teacher educators facilitate the development of PSETs’ capacity to professionally notice (attending, interpreting, and deciding) children’s mathematical thinking? 2) To what extent can PSETs develop understanding of children’s conceptions of unit as displayed by counting types in the Stages of Early Arithmetic Learning? 3) To what extent does PSET professional noticing performance correlate with PSET mathematical knowledge for teaching and attitudes towards mathematics?