Understanding Prospective Mathematics Teachers' Processes for Making Sense of Students' Work With Technology

This study investigated the processes used by prospective mathematics teachers as they examined middle-school students' work solving statistical problems using a computer software program. Students' work on the tasks was captured in a videocase used by prospective teachers enrolled in a mathematics education course focused on teaching secondary mathematics with technology. The researchers developed a model for characterizing prospective teachers' attention to students' work and actions and interpretations of students' mathematical thinking. The model facilitated the identification of four categories: describing, comparing, inferring, and restructuring. Ways in which the model may be used by other researchers and implications for the design of pedagogical tasks for prospective teachers are discussed.