Changes in Pre-service Teachers’ Noticing Through an Elementary Mathematics Methods Course Combining Theory and Practice

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in pre-service teachers’ noticing through an elementary mathematics methods course along with a practicum. For this purpose, the comments pre-service teachers made on an entire video-based mathematics lesson were collected three times over the semester. Their comments were analyzed in terms of topic, actor, stance, evidence, and alternative strategy. The results showed that the pre-service teachers’ noticing abilities were slightly changed after learning mathematical content and pedagogy related to teaching elementary mathematics. Substantial changes in their noticing occurred after a four-week practicum and subsequent discussions on their own lesson planning, implementation, and reflections. This study has implications for designing a mathematics methods course to develop teacher expertise and refining a teacher noticing analytic framework.