Video-stimulated Recall Interviews Research Articles

Newly arrived youth and young adults meeting ‘othering-practices’: a critical analysis of a teacher practice in Norway

ABSTRACT This study utilises ‘practice architectures’ as a theoretical and analytical framework to examine the arrangements that both enable and constrain teacher practice in an adult centre for newly arrived youth and young adults in Norway. The practice was explored through the use of video-stimulated recall, video observations, and subsequent interviews with a single teacher. A hermeneutical analysis was employed to identify the arrangement that governed the practice. The analysis revealed that existing discourses surrounding gender equality, teaching materials, time and organisation, and an understanding of equality as sameness served to restrict the teacher’s practice. Consequently, the students experienced ‘othering practices’. This article emphasises the need for increased attention to the ‘taken for granted’ knowledge that influences the interaction between teachers and newly arrived students.

Bridging the Gap: The Reality of Digital Technology Integration by Indonesian Pre-service EFL Teachers

Background: This research investigates the integration of digital technology into teaching practices among pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Indonesia, using the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The exploration focuses on the contextual challenges and limited technological infrastructure that hinder effective technology use during teaching practicums. Methodology: Employing a qualitative case study design, the research involved six pre-service teachers from three junior high schools in Indonesia. Data were collected through Video-Stimulated Recall (VSR) interviews, direct observations, and analysis of teaching materials, including lesson plans and multimedia resources used in classroom settings. Findings: The findings reveal that while pre-service teachers were theoretically prepared for integrating technology into education, practical implementation was often compromised by infrastructural deficiencies. Teachers frequently encountered issues such as insufficient internet access and lack of support from supervisory staff, which forced them to rely on basic and offline technological tools despite their preparedness to employ more sophisticated resources. Conclusion: The research underscores a significant gap between the theoretical training provided by teacher education programs and the practical realities in Indonesian schools. It suggests that enhancing technological infrastructure and mentorship in these settings is crucial to effectively translate pedagogical and content knowledge into technology-integrated teaching practices. Originality: This research contributes to the field by highlighting the specific challenges faced by pre-service teachers in developing countries like Indonesia and provides empirical evidence on the discrepancies between their training and actual teaching experiences. The study advocates for an integrated approach in teacher education that aligns theoretical knowledge with practical abilities to navigate technological constraints

“They are saying it’s high, but I think it’s quite low”: exploring cardiovascular disease risk communication in NHS health checks through video-stimulated recall interviews with patients – a qualitative study

BackgroundNHS Health Check (NHSHC) is a national cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk identification and management programme. However, evidence suggests a limited understanding of the most used metric to communicate CVD risk with patients (10-year percentage risk). This study used novel application of video-stimulated recall interviews to understand patient perceptions and understanding of CVD risk following an NHSHC that used one of two different CVD risk calculators.MethodsQualitative, semi-structured video-stimulated recall interviews were conducted with patients (n = 40) who had attended an NHSHC using either the QRISK2 10-year risk calculator (n = 19) or JBS3 lifetime CVD risk calculator (n = 21). Interviews were transcribed and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsAnalysis resulted in the development of four themes: variability in understanding, relief about personal risk, perceived changeability of CVD risk, and positive impact of visual displays. The first three themes were evident across the two patient groups, regardless of risk calculator; the latter related to JBS3 only. Patients felt relieved about their CVD risk, yet there were differences in understanding between calculators. Heart age within JBS3 prompted more accessible risk appraisal, yet mixed understanding was evident for both calculators. Event-free survival age also resulted in misunderstanding. QRISK2 patients tended to question the ability for CVD risk to change, while risk manipulation through JBS3 facilitated this understanding. Displaying information visually also appeared to enhance understanding.ConclusionsEffective communication of CVD risk within NHSHC remains challenging, and lifetime risk metrics still lead to mixed levels of understanding in patients. However, visual presentation of information, alongside risk manipulation during NHSHCs can help to increase understanding and prompt risk-reducing lifestyle changes.Trial registrationISRCTN10443908. Registered 7th February 2017.

Mathematics discourse in instruction during functions lessons in grade 10 rural classrooms

Despite the global significance of functions in mathematics education, there has been limited research on how South African rural teachers address specific mathematical concepts related to functions. This qualitative multiple case study, conducted within a post-structural paradigm, delved into the discourses of Grade 10 teachers during functions lessons in rural classrooms. The study focused on the teaching of mathematical concepts related to functions and involved five mathematics teachers from rural school sites in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. These teachers were selected based on their experience in teaching mathematics. The research employed semi-structured interviews, unstructured classroom observations, and Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews with all five teachers. By narrowing the focus to one teacher's lesson, this paper analyses the presentation of functions concepts using the Mathematical Discourse in Instruction (MDI) framework. The study revealed that clear teaching materials and learner-engaging instructional methods enable meaningful engagement and concept internalisation. Through the visible use of the components of the MDI framework, the teacher successfully engaged learners, clarified misconceptions, and encouraged learners' participation, ultimately enhancing the coherence and understanding of mathematical concepts related to functions in the Grade 10 classroom.

Immersive virtual reality for complex skills training: content analysis of experienced challenges

This study aimed to examine the challenges that adult participants experienced in immersive virtual reality (I-VR). Practitioners have indicated that some challenges persist from trainee to trainee and scholars have called for the design and development of virtual reality (VR) applications based on learning theories. Thus, we examined challenges immersed learners experienced during self-discovery of game mechanics and assembly task within an early-development I-VR program. We clarified the immersive learning phenomenon by studying the self-reported problem statements from 168 university students and staff. They used an HTC Vive Pro Eye device and a custom-built software. Through an iterative content analysis of post-survey and video-stimulated recall interviews, we retrieved 481 problem statements from the participants. As a result, we derived and detailed 89 challenges, 22 component features, 11 components, and 5 principal factors of immersive learning. The most cited components that the participants found challenging were the use of controllers and functions, reciprocal software interaction, spatial and navigational constraints, relevance realisation, and learner capabilities. Closer inspection of the quantified data revealed that the participants without digital gaming experience reported relatively more hardware-related problem statements. The findings regarding the constraints of immersive learning helped clarify the various actants involved in immersive learning. In this paper, we provide a design implication summary for VR application developers. Further research on theory-based development and design implications in various immersive training settings is needed.

Teachers’ Considerations for a Digitalised Learning Context of Preschool Science

AbstractThis study investigates preschool teachers’ considerations for including digital tools in science teaching to develop children’s learning of science content. Due to the ongoing digitalisation and demands in society, the utilisation of digital tools has increased significantly in educational settings. Recent research about digital tools in early childhood education focuses on various aspects of technology implementation. However, there is a research gap in which considerations underpin preschool teachers’ choices of what, why and how they integrate digital tools into science teaching. The data generation was conducted by different methods. The reflection tool Content Representations (CoRe) is used to make the preschool teachers’ considerations explicit when reflecting on planning science teaching regarding specific science content formulated as Big Ideas. Further, video stimulated recall interviews capture the preschool teachers’ considerations on their interactions with children in science activities and using digital tools. The Refined Consensus Model (RCM) of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) was employed as a theoretical framework for analysing and interpreting data around an entire teaching cycle. Some of the teachers’ considerations for including digital tools involve accessing children’s learning, making the abstract concrete and stimulating children’s engagement and learning. Further, the findings indicate that the considerations concerned knowledge about teachers’ personal PCK (pPCK) and enacted PCK (ePCK) aspects.

The impact of subtitles and transcripts in disciplinary videos for EAL learners

Existing research on instructional videos primarily explores subtitles and transcripts in vocabulary and listening comprehension for English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners, with limited focus on content and language integrated learning (CLIL). This pilot case study investigates how these tools mediate postgraduate EAL learners’ mathematics learning, spotlighting their video consumption approaches and thinking processes. Findings from video-stimulated recall (VSR) and semi-structured interviews highlight the distinct advantages of both transcripts and subtitles in facilitating CLIL. While transcripts provide a robust textual reference, enabling learners to navigate through complex mathematical concepts efficiently, bilingual subtitles foster translanguaging and crosslinguistic strategies, empowering learners to leverage their full linguistic and cognitive repertoire for understanding mathematical concepts. Our findings enhance and refine existing knowledge of video designs, highlighting the crucial, complementary roles of subtitles and transcripts for EAL learners, with implications for developing and implementing instructional videos, endorsing strategic use of both tools to accommodate varied learning needs.

Translating Willingness to Communicate into Learner Talk in a Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) Classroom

Cumulative research has explored willingness to communicate (WTC) in English as a second language and English as a foreign language contexts, but few have looked at the interface between WTC and learner talk from a Chinese learning perspective. This study investigates how six multilingual and multicultural students’ WTC translates into talk in a Chinese as a foreign language classroom in a highly internationalised Scottish University. Specifically, it examines what factors play a part in translating WTC into talk and how such factors enable or impede the process. It adopts a qualitative multiple-case study approach comprising high-density monthly triangulations of classroom observations, learner journals, video-stimulated recall interviews and semi-structured interviews conducted over one academic year. Findings revealed 13 learner-internal and learner-external factors which engage with one another to form various interactional patterns. Adapting to such interactional patterns, the six students’ WTC was found to self-organise into and out of attractor states in which the students were either pro-talk or against-talk. This empirically attests that the WTC-talk realisation exhibits dynamism, non-linearity, self-organisation, co-adaptability, and dependence on initial states and context. Recurring interactional patterns were identified as characterising each student’s successes or failures in realising talk. Pedagogical implications are also provided in light of the findings.

Doctors, Patients, and Interpreters' Views on the Co-Construction of Empathic Communication in Interpreter-Mediated Consultations: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Video Stimulated Recall Interviews.

Doctors and patients rely on verbal and nonverbal resources to co-construct clinical empathy. In language-discordant consultations, interpreters' communicative actions might compromise this process. We aim to explore doctors, patients, and professional interpreters' perspectives on their own and others' actions during their empathic interaction in interpreter-mediated consultations (IMCs). We analyzed 20 video stimulated recall interviews with doctors, patients, and interpreters using qualitative content analysis. Doctors and patients found ways to connect with each other on the level of empathic communication (EC) that is not limited by interpreters' alterations or disengaged demeanor. Some aspects of doctors and interpreters' professional practices might jeopardize the co-construction of EC in IMCs. The co-construction of EC in IMCs is not only subject to participants' communicative (inter)actions, but also to organizational and subjective factors. These results provide evidence of the transactional process between the behavioral, cognitive, and affective components of clinical empathy in the context of IMCs.

Investigating opportunities for integrating methodology when teaching a life science topic (meiosis) to fourth-year pre-service teachers: A case study

Pre-service teachers (PSTs) are expected to effectively integrate their content knowledge with their knowledge of teaching when teaching classes after qualification. This integration can, however, be challenging for PSTs because the two components are often taught separately at teacher education institutions. This qualitative case study investigated the possibilities of integrating the teaching of the two components at a South African university educating future science teachers. Data in the form of video-recorded lectures, video-stimulated recall interviews with a teacher educator, and focus group interviews with 15 PSTs were collected. Data analysis was mainly deductive informed by the topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge conceptual framework. Many opportunities for integrating methodology were created by the teacher educator while teaching meiosis content. The study concludes that integrating methodology when teaching content courses is possible. However, the integration should include explicit discussion of the pedagogical reasoning behind the visible teaching routines.

Exploring youth sport coaches’ perceptions of intended outcomes of leadership behaviours

Youth sport coaches play an important role in shaping the sport experience and positive development of youth athletes. One salient approach to examining how the interpersonal behaviours of coaches influence young athletes has been through the lens of leadership theories. However, there is limited understanding surrounding the underlying processes associated with coach leadership behaviours, such as how and why behaviours are applied. This study sought to examine why do youth sport coaches use specific leadership behaviours and what are their intended outcomes when using these behaviours? Eleven coaches ( Mage = 42.3, SD = 14.5) were recruited from competitive youth soccer and volleyball clubs (athletes’ Mage = 15.8, SD = 1.9). Coaches participated in a video-stimulated recall interview, during which coaches reflected upon their own coaching behaviours and provided insight into the application of leadership behaviours in youth sport. Findings of the study revealed that contrasting leadership behaviours (e.g. transformational vs. transactional) are associated with distinctive coach objectives (promoting confidence vs. establishing respect). This study can serve to facilitate knowledge mobilization by strengthening our understanding of coaches’ intentions for the implementation of leadership behaviours in a real-world setting.

Investigating the interactions between L2 writing processes and products under different task planning time conditions

This study adopted an integrated approach to investigate how second language (L2) writers engaged in cognitive processes during planning and writing and generated their written products under a randomly assigned planning time condition. Participants were 160 intermediate-high L2 writers who performed a narrative task under either the pre-task planning condition (PTP), the online planning condition (OLP), the combination of the pre-task and online planning condition (PTP/OLP), or the no planning condition (NP). Furthermore, 60 writers, randomly selected from the four task conditions, participated in video stimulated recall interviews (VSRIs). L2 writers’ performance was analyzed using complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) measures. Quantitative analyses revealed that PTP, OLP, and PTP/OLP improved complexity and fluency, but OLP and PTP/OLP fostered accuracy while PTP had no effect compared to NP. Additionally, only the paired interaction between PTP/OLP and PTP was positive for fluency while other paired interactions remained insignificant. The VSRIs also demonstrated that while PTP facilitated attention to the planning processes and OLP improved attention to the translating processes and monitoring system, PTP/OLP aided in differentially attending to the writing systems and processes. These results suggest that task planning mitigated specific demands on L2 writers’ cognitive processes and fostered writing products.

Using qualitative methods to explore the dynamics of patients' perspective sharing in community pharmacy counseling- conversation analysis and video-stimulated recall interviews.

Background:For patient centered counseling to take place in community pharmacies, patients should feel encouraged to share their perspectives, yet studies show that this rarely happens. The process of patient perspective sharing relies on the interactional details that unfold during an encounter i.e. how patients verbally and nonverbally are encouraged to share their perspective, which in turn is affected by patients’ and pharmacy staff members’ psychological processes in the situation, i.e. how they perceive and feel when acting. Therefore, employing complimentary methods that study both interactional and psychological processes could deepen the understanding of the dynamics governing patients’ perspective sharing in pharmacy encounters.Objective:The objective of this study is twofold: 1) a methodological consideration of the benefits of employing Conversation Analysis (CA) and Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews (VSRI) in parallel, 2) to use the methodological combination to understand patient perspective sharing in community pharmacy interactions.Method:A single case study of one pharmacy encounter to explore the objectives in-depth. This was done through video recording of pharmacy encounters and subsequent CA-analysis; VSRIs were conducted with the involved patient and pharmacy staff member and analyzed using a qualitative thematic approach.Results:By exploring detailed interactional and psychological processes in parallel, specific occurrences which might hinder patients’ perspective sharing were revealed. CA demonstrated that staff member’s listening activities restricted the patient’s perspective sharing. VSRIs with patient and staff member supported this result: the staff member had a narrow conception of what counted as suitable answers and did not consider listening an active process. The patient harbored shame about needing to take the medication which affected her behavior during the encounter.Conclusion:The novelty of the methodological combination is promising in order to grasp the complex process of patient perspective sharing in pharmacy encounters, as it affords aspects such as emotionality to be considered a central part of pharmacy encounters. As a consequence, it is suggested that the psychological concept of mentalizing is added to pharmacy education, as it is a trainable capacity enabling staff to become aware of the mental states that affect both patients and staff themselves during the pharmacy encounter.

Novice and expert Grade 9 teachers’ responses to unexpected learner offers in the teaching of algebra

In South Africa, limited studies have been conducted investigating responsive teaching and little is known about how teachers respond to unexpected events ‘in the moment’ that did not form part of their planning. In this article, we report how a Grade 9 novice and expert teacher responded to unexpected learner offers during the teaching of algebra using a qualitative case study approach. Three consecutive lessons for each teacher were video recorded, transcribed and analysed. Our units of analysis for episodes were teachers’ responses to unexpected learner offers and we coded the responses as ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’. Indicators used to highlight the degree of quality of the response were ‘minimum’, ‘middle’ and ‘maximum’ if a response was coded as appropriate to a learner’s offer. Once lessons were analysed, the first author conducted video-stimulated recall interviews with each participant to gain insight into the two teachers’ thoughts and decision-making when responding to unexpected learner offers. The findings from this study illustrated that the novice teacher failed to press learners when their thinking was unclear, chose to ignore or provided an incorrect answer when faced with an unexpected learner offer. Conversely, the expert teacher continuously interrogated learner offers by pressing if a learner offer was unclear or if she wanted learners to explain their thinking. This suggests that the expert teacher’s responses were highly supportive of emergent mathematics learning in the collective classroom space.

Synergistic co-teaching: Surfacing the invisible flows of dramaturgy in practice in initial teacher education

Global disruptions in higher education provide further impetus to recent calls for fundamental changes in initial teacher education (ITE) curricula and pedagogies. This video-based Interactional Ethnography of on-campus co-teaching practices aims to surface the ‘invisible flows’ of co-teaching as social interaction. The micro-etnhographic discourse analysis of four interaction units across a 2-hour teaching session and a video stimulated recall interview revealed that the co-teachers used intertextual references to signal shared understandings while engaging their ITE students in preparation for a Capstone assessment. Drawing on Goffman's (1959) seminal work in dramaturgical sociology, the joint close micro-analyses of classroom talk, actions, disciplinary expertise and professional histories made transparent how, as a team, the co-teachers relied on their bond of reciprocal dependence and familiarity to gain intersubjectivity. When a disruption arose, they synergistically demonstrated the defensive attributes and practices of a dramaturgical team constitutive of circumspection, discipline, and loyalty as they (re) formulated their planned lesson and co-operatively maintained their common learning goals. This process enabled them to demonstrate a different type of co-teaching pedagogical practice, which we propose as synergistic co-teaching . • Adopts Interactional Ethnography to study co-teaching in Initial Teacher Education • Revisits Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical sociology, teamwork and intersubjectivity • Proposes ‘synergistic co-teaching' as an extension of existing types of co-teaching • Reflects on the affordances of video analysis in studying teaching-learning in-situ

Failing to Capitalise on Contingent Events: An Investigation into a Secondary Mathematics Teacher’s Responses to Triggers of Contingency During the Teaching of Algebra

Responding constructively to unexpected events during a lesson is a particularly challenging facet of teaching. This study aimed to investigate how a secondary school mathematics teacher responded to learners’ unexpected or unplanned offers in the teaching of algebra. A total of three sequential lessons were video recorded and the quality of the teacher’s responses to unexpected learner questions was analysed. The first author then conducted a video-stimulated recall (VSR) interview with the teacher to understand her rationale and decision making in response to the contingent incidents identified within her lessons. The results indicate that the teacher did acknowledge unexpected learners’ offers but failed to probe or interrogate the learners’ thinking “in the moment.” Another key finding was that the reflection-oriented questions during the VSR interview proved fruitful in assisting the teacher to reflect on how she responded to unexpected learners’ offers. We note that the teacher was able to articulate a justification for her actions associated with “deliberate reflection” and that she was able to envisage alternatives to how she responded to unplanned moments related to “critical reflection.” The teacher acknowledged the lesson’s potential limitations after responding to reflection-orientated questions during the VSR interview.

Cardiovascular disease risk communication in NHS Health Checks using QRISK®2 and JBS3 risk calculators: the RICO qualitative and quantitative study.

The NHS Health Check is a national cardiovascular disease prevention programme. There is a lack of evidence on how health checks are conducted, how cardiovascular disease risk is communicated to foster risk-reducing intentions or behaviour, and the impact on communication of using different cardiovascular disease risk calculators. RIsk COmmunication in Health Check (RICO) study aimed to explore practitioner and patient understanding of cardiovascular disease risk, the associated advice or treatment offered by the practitioner, and the response of the patients in health checks supported by either the QRISK®2 or the JBS3 lifetime risk calculator. This was a qualitative study with quantitative process evaluation. Twelve general practices in the West Midlands of England, stratified on deprivation of the local area (bottom 50% vs. top 50%), and with matched pairs randomly allocated to use QRISK2 or JBS3 during health checks. A total of 173 patients eligible for NHS Health Check and 15 practitioners. The health check was delivered using either the QRISK2 10-year risk calculator (usual practice) or the JBS3 lifetime risk calculator, with heart age, event-free survival age and risk score manipulation (intervention). Video-recorded health checks were analysed quantitatively (n = 173; JBS3, n = 100; QRISK2, n = 73) and qualitatively (n = 128; n = 64 per group), and video-stimulated recall interviews were undertaken with 40 patients and 15 practitioners, with 10 in-depth case studies. The duration of the health check varied (6.8-38 minutes), but most health checks were short (60% lasting < 20 minutes), with little cardiovascular disease risk discussion (average < 2 minutes). The use of JBS3 was associated with more cardiovascular disease risk discussion and fewer practitioner-dominated consultations than the use of QRISK2. Heart age and visual representations of risk, as used in JBS3, appeared to be better understood by patients than 10-year risk (QRISK2) and, as a result, the use of JBS3 was more likely to lead to discussion of risk factors and their management. Event-free survival age was not well understood by practitioners or patients. However, a lack of effective cardiovascular disease risk discussion in both groups increased the likelihood of a maladaptive coping response (i.e. no risk-reducing behaviour change). In both groups, practitioners often missed opportunities to check patient understanding and to tailor information on cardiovascular disease risk and its management during health checks, confirming apparent practitioner verbal dominance. The main limitations were under-recruitment in some general practices and the resulting imbalance between groups. Communication of cardiovascular disease risk during health checks was brief, particularly when using QRISK2. Patient understanding of and responses to cardiovascular disease risk information were limited. Practitioners need to better engage patients in discussion of and action-planning for their cardiovascular disease risk to reduce misunderstandings. The use of heart age, visual representation of risk and risk score manipulation was generally seen to be a useful way of doing this. Future work could focus on more fundamental issues of practitioner training and time allocation within health check consultations. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN10443908. This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 25, No. 50. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Cardiovascular disease risk communication in NHS Health Checks: a qualitative video-stimulated recall interview study with practitioners.

BackgroundNHS Health Check (NHSHC) is a national programme to identify and manage cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Practitioners delivering the programme should be competent in discussing CVD risk, but there is evidence of limited understanding of the recommended 10-year percentage CVD risk scores. Lifetime CVD risk calculators might improve understanding and communication of risk.AimTo explore practitioner understanding, perceptions, and experiences of CVD risk communication in NHSHCs when using two different CVD risk calculators.Design & settingQualitative video-stimulated recall (VSR) study with NHSHC practitioners in the West Midlands.MethodVSR interviews were conducted with practitioners who delivered NHSHCs using either the QRISK2 10-year risk calculator (n = 7) or JBS3 lifetime CVD risk calculator (n = 8). Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsIn total, nine healthcare assistants (HCAs) and six general practice nurses (GPNs) were interviewed. There was limited understanding and confidence of 10-year risk, which was used to guide clinical decisions through determining low-, medium-, or high-risk thresholds, rather than as a risk communication tool. Potential benefits of some JBS3 functions were evident, particularly heart age, risk manipulation, and visual presentation of risk.ConclusionThere is a gap between the expectation and reality of practitioners’ understanding, competencies, and training in CVD risk communication for NHSHCs. Practitioners would welcome heart age and risk manipulation functions of JBS3 to promote patient understanding of CVD risk, but there is a more fundamental need for practitioner training in CVD risk communication.

Pre-service Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge Integration of Students’ Understanding in Science and Instructional Strategies

In the current study, we address calls for research on the complex nature of integrations of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) components. This is a multiple case study of six middle-school pre-service teachers (PSTs) as they taught science in their school practicum. We investigated the nature of PSTs’ integration between knowledge of students’ understanding (KSU) and instructional strategies (KIS), and their sources of these integrations. The primary data sources were two video stimulated recall interviews during which each PST viewed video recordings of their instruction, and shared reflections on their teaching. Results were represented as PCK maps. The PSTs frequently demonstrated integration of KSU and KIS, often developing topic-specific strategies. Instructional strategies served a variety of goals in response to students’ needs. PSTs referred to specialized science content courses, peer PSTs, learning experiences, and mentor teachers as sources that contributed to the integrations. Implications for research and teacher education are included.

Rural Teachers’ Teaching of Algebraic Functions Through a Commognitive Lens

Rural contexts and their schools have continuously been overlooked by researchers of mathematics education in South Africa. This is despite the assumption that the educational landscape may vary markedly in rural areas compared to urban and township areas which have been solely researched in the post-apartheid dispensation. To address the dearth of mathematics education research located within South Africa's rural contexts, the study explored five Grade 10 rural mathematics teachers' discourses and approaches of teaching algebraic functions with five teachers from five different school sites. This qualitative multiple case study, using Sfard's commognitive theory, draws attention to rural mathematics teachers' classroom practices and views about the teaching of algebraic functions which is unexamined in the South African context. Three data generation tools were used to gain insight into teachers' discourses and approaches while teaching the topic. These are individual semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews (VSRI). Research findings focus primarily on the data generated through classroom observations. To analyse the data, I use Sfard's commognitive theory to give meaning to teachers' classroom practices. Focusing on the distinction between two tenets of commognitive theory, ritual and explorative routines, the findings demonstrate that four participating teachers acted in an extremely ritualised way. The other teacher was more explorative in her classroom observable actions. The findings illuminate that teachers need to move more towards the participationist approach during teaching to enable them to think, observe, and communicate about mathematical objects that commognitively link more with explorative routines.