Effective Teacher Professional Development Programs. A Case Study Focusing on the Development of Mathematical Modeling Skills

Abstract

A concern in Mathematics Education is the professional development of the teacher and to promote effective training programs. The literature provides principles guiding the design of such programs, which were considered for an instruction intended to strengthen the teacher’s practice in relation to the development of mathematical skills. The objective of this work was to study if the designed program was effective, in relation to the impact on the teacher’s teaching. A case study on a group of in-service teachers focused on the ability of mathematical modeling (MM) and their perspectives of this skill was carried out. This was divided into three moments: before, during, and after the program. The findings show that, before the program, teachers conceived modeling from epistemological, pragmatic and conceptual perspectives; during the program, they focused on the pragmatic and educational perspectives; and at the end of the program, the group was stripped of the pragmatic, epistemological and conceptual perspectives to move towards the educational and socio-critical. They were also able to justify the choice or disassociation of one or more of them. The study advances towards the concretion of more specific and robust professional development programs for mathematics teachers.

The Understanding of Effective Professional Development of Mathematics Teachers According to South Sudan School Context

“…EO2 refers effective PD to teachers who are either qualified or not, but they are trained with the skills that lead them to the award of a certificate of attendance. Such reflections are directly related to the general PD definition in literature [7,10,11]. Among the 19 subcategories of characteristics of effective PD, only S2, S3, and IF2 were mentioned by the reflection of the educational officials in the context of the three types of PD.…”

“…PD plays a substantial role in enhancing teachers to become competitive in teaching as well as improving students' performance. In general, [10] stated that "teacher PD is a continuous and personal learning and growth, in which teachers participate voluntarily" and recognizing this nature of PD is vital when stakeholders engage in any PD program (p. 1).…”

“…What is meant by effective PD? A large body of research identifies principles and elements that constitute effective PD programs [10,[19][20][21][22]. The term effective is somehow controversial, as one effective PD may not be as effective in another context or another education system.…”

Assessing Teachers’ Capabilities to Work with Models and Evaluate Results in the Context of a Complex and Authentic STEM Problem

“…However, most of the prior research focused either on smaller-scale problems or modelling tasks (e.g., [26][27][28]), or on relative gains from interventions (e.g., [29][30][31]), rather than an overall assessment of the level of competence shown by educators working on such larger-scale problems as described earlier.…”

Teacher Autonomy and Preferences in Professional Development: A Comprehensive Survey of Florida Educators

“…This may include updates on educational policies, emerging teaching strategies, or subject-specific content. By addressing these essential topics, PD programs can ensure that teachers are well-informed and equipped with the necessary knowledge to improve their classroom performance (Ramos -Rodríguez et al, 2022).…”