Expanding the instructional triangle: conceptualizing mathematics teacher development

As mathematics educators think about teaching that promotes students’ opportunities to learn, attention must be given to the conceptualization of the professional development of teachers and those who teach teachers. In this article, we generalize and expand the instructional triangle to consider different interactions in a variety of teacher development contexts. We have done so by addressing issues of language for models of teachers’ professional development at different levels and by providing examples of situations in which these models can be applied. Through the expansion of our understanding and use of the instructional triangle we can further develop the concept of mathematics teacher development.     

Students’ views of oral performance assessment in mathematics: straddling the ‘assessment of’ and ‘assessment for’ learning divide

This paper explores the views of a group of students who took an oral performance assessment in a first-year mathematics module. Such assessments are unusual for most subjects in the UK, but particularly within the generally homogenous assessment diet of undergraduate mathematics. The evidence presented here resonates with some, but not all, of the existing literature on oral assessment and suggests that, despite concerns about anxiety and fairness, students see oral assessments as encouraging a focus on understanding, being relatively authentic and reactive to their needs. We argue that, suitably implemented, oral assessment may be a viable assessment method for straddling the ‘assessment for’ and ‘assessment of’ learning divide in higher education.     

Technology transfer in schools: from research to innovation

Technology transfer should be a central objective of research into educational information technology, as it is generally acknowledged that the quality of this process is a critical factor in effectively bringing about innovation. The central focus of this paper is on this problem. In particular, we discuss the peculiarity of information technology transfer in schools as opposed to the transfer of technology in companies; we indicate some central problems of this transfer and discuss a typology of approaches to the transfer of educational information technology from research to school.     

Correction to: A Critical Review of Students’ and Teachers’ Understandings of Nature of Science

Science & Education - The original article unfortunately contains incorrect presentation of Tables 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.     

Encountering Productive Forms of Complexity in Learning Modern Physics

This paper aims at supporting the claim that some forms of hyper-simplification, by making physics seem easy, are at risk of dangerously distorting the content as well as the process of learning physics. The paper presents examples of dangerous simplifications in the teaching of quantum physics. Then, examples of productive forms of complexity are discussed, both as criteria for designing teaching proposals, and for realizing appropriate learning environments, namely properly complex territories. Empirical results, from a teaching/learning experiment on quantum physics at upper secondary school (grade 13), are reported. These results show examples of students’ reactions to travelling through a complex territory, and allow us to argue that unavoidable difficulty in learning quantum physics can be transformed into cultural challenges within reach of secondary school students.     

Approaches and strategies for understanding the career development needs of migrants and refugees: the potential of a systems-based narrative approach

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - Addressing immigrants’ social and work inclusion is a priority at a time of increasing migration to Italy and Europe. Career...