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Using
video to support collaborative lesson study
in mathematics |
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School:
La Sainte Union Catholic Secondary School,
London |
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Fellow: Kitmee Lim |
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Email: kmlim@lsu.camden.sch.uk |
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Aims |
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The aim is to use video analysis to support
collaborative practice in order to improve
teachers’ effective use of interactive
technology to teach reasoning in Mathematics. |
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Objectives |
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The video will be used to support a small
group of teachers in changing their pedagogic
approach to teaching reasoning through the
use of interactive IT and whiteboards. The
group will jointly plan a set of lessons;
undertake joint observation and feedback through
video. It will then analyze the teaching methods
used to enhance and extend students’
reasoning skills. |
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Plan |
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Identify
three areas of the curriculum where
pupils find reasoning particularly difficult. |
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Agree with a small group of colleagues
(e.g. two in the school and one outside)
to undertake collaborative practice. |
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Agree a timescale for the planning
and teaching of these lessons and identify
the topic area for the pilot lesson. |
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Undertake some focused research for
teaching the identified topic. |
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Draw up a model lesson plan with extension
ideas and share it with colleagues.
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Go through the process of discussion
and evaluation to re-plan the lesson
and to consider how it best supports
learning. |
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Teach the lesson interactively and
have it videotaped. |
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Analyze the video with colleagues
and reflect as a group on student learning. |
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One of the teams will teach the revised
lesson and repeat the above process
again. |
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This is a model that will be
refined and extended in an iterative way to
teach the two other topic areas. |
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Progress |
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The areas of the curriculum
chosen are listed below. |
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Curriculum topic |
Year group |
Teachers |
Phase 1
Proportional reasoning |
Ratio and Proportion |
Y8 (Sets 1, 2 & 3; out of 4 sets) |
3 from LSU |
Phase 2
Algebraic reasoning |
Gradient of straight lines |
Y10 (Sets 4, 5 & 6; out of 8 sets) |
2 from LSU,
2 from Parliament Hill |
Phase 3
Geometrical reasoning |
Theorems of circles |
Y11 (Sets 1, 2 & 6; out of 8 sets) |
3 from LSU ( 2 teachers from Phase
1) |
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The first two phases have been
completed. There are 2 DVDs made up of the
edited teaching sessions; the model plans;
the discussions that took place in drawing
up the plans and their revisions; all teaching
resources and interactive whiteboard pages
that support the learning. There was an analysis
of student performance at the start and at
the end of the topic. Grades of these students
for the topic tests are being compared to
those of students of similar ability, who
were taught the same topic by teachers not
undertaking the collaborative practice. |
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Students were surveyed to find out whether
they have been more engaged with their work
through interactive technology and the change
in pedagogic practice of their teacher. There
was also an analysis of teachers’ pedagogic
change through interactive technology. |
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Phase 3 will finish in January
2007. There were some minor adjustments with
the project plan.
Examples of these include: |
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Difficulty
in videotaping all the lessons and the
meetings although notes were taken. |
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Difficulty in finding teachers from
other schools. |
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Reflections |
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Below are highlights from the feedback of
teachers and students. |
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Teacher |
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The most
common comments by teachers were that
they found the in-depth discussions
about teaching and learning stimulating.
The sessions provided excellent resources
and methods to teach a topic to students
of differing abilities. Lesson study
supported a cooperative and collegiate
culture. One teacher wanted to participate
in the third phase of the project after
videotaping a session for the group
in phase two. Some teachers are writing
up their collaborative experience for
a master’s thesis. |
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Using interactive technology
took teachers to a higher level of technological
skill and instruction. Teachers increased
their confidence and expanded their
repertoire of successful strategies
for teaching the topics; leading participants
to think more about effective ways of
teaching topics interactively. |
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Teachers find the video
excerpts rich in information and different
perspectives can be drawn from watching
the videos each time. This process refined
teachers’ observational skills. |
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Teachers are changing
their teaching styles through the use
of interactive technology. Examples
of these include: |
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Some teachers have gained expertise
in using the Interactive Whiteboard
and now use it often in their teaching. |
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Two teachers now apply the multiplicative
relationships in ratio conversions to
other areas of mathematics such as in
problems involving percentages, speed
and density. Teachers also learned to
teach ratio in a visual way using lines
and blocks. |
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All teachers initially
felt uncomfortable with the video in
the classroom but the process made them
more aware of their questioning styles
and their pupils’ response to
them. |
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There is difficulty in
getting other Mathematics teachers either
in or outside the school to participate
in the project owing to the videotaping
of lessons. Teachers generally feel
threatened by observations in their
classrooms. |
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Other departments expressed
interest in doing such collaborative
work. |
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Students |
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Student enjoyed the innovative
and interactive learning opportunities.
Examples of these include animating
the movement of a straight line by varying
the gradient and the intercept and writing
on the whiteboards. |
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Students also liked
the clearer structure of the collaborative
lessons. |
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Data from the evaluation tests appeared
to show a small positive difference
towards the case study group but more
work needs to be done on the analysis. |
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Next steps |
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I have shared the work on the
Gatsby project with my department through
an Inset. Some teachers have expressed interest
in using these resources and I hope to receive
feedback on their teaching and learning. |
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Teachers in other departments have noticed
the collaborative work and they have expressed
interest. I would like to give a school inset
to help teachers initiate lesson studies in
their individual departments. Professor David
Burghes of Plymouth University has asked the
Mathematics department of LSU to participate
in a public lesson study which will involve
four to five schools. I hope to participate
in this venture. Teresa Smart, Director of
the London Mathematics Centre, has kindly
invited me to present my Gatsby project in
February 2007 to a network of teachers involved
in collaborative work. I have also been invited
to attend the follow-up conference for international
participants arranged by the National Centre
for excellence in teaching Mathematics. |
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I have spent £400 on
materials and payment for two teachers who
prepared the resources for the first two phases
of the project. I would like to use the remaining
funds on cover, materials and observing how
teachers collaborate in schools in the UK
and abroad. |
