NCET CONFERENCE: ict IN mATHEMATICS tEACHING

London 12 March 2008

title of the project

Mathematics teachers’ learning about and incorporation of ICT into classroom practices

  • Name of director

Cosette Crisan

  • Address/etc for communication

Dr Cosette Crisan

NewmanCollege of Higher Education

Birmingham B32 3NT

tel 0121 476 1181 ext 2374

  • Key aims of the project

The study reported in this paper was carried out with seven secondary school mathematics teachers. The teachers were at different stages in their teaching career, as well as at different stages of incorporating ICT into their practices, with some more skilled in the use of ICT and more knowledgeable of different mathematics packages than others, but with all willing to explore the potential of ICT into their classroom practices. Over a period of two years I worked with these teachers in order to explore how they thought about using ICT, how they used ICT and the reasons for doing so. The analysis of the data collected through lesson observations, interviews and informal discussions with the teachers yielded a number of salient factors, of both contextual and personal nature, which were identified as key to the integration of ICT into mathematics teaching.

  • Numbers and types of schools/teachers involved

The study was carried out with seven secondary school mathematics teachers teaching in three schools in a large metropolitan city in the United Kingdom. School X is a mixed, voluntary aided school and the age range of pupils is 11 to 18; school Y is a voluntary aided co-educational selective grammar school - girls progressively enter every year as co-education proceeds and Years 7 and 8 and the sixth form are thus mixed, while school Z is a non-selective school for boys. The participating schools are academically successful; the latest OfStEd reports characterised one school as an institution where pupils' attainments were broadly in line with national averages and expectations, while at the other two schools, most of the pupils achieved high standards of attainment at KS3, GCSE and A-level examinations when compared to the national average.

  • Date of start and finish of the project activity

September 2002 to September 2004

  • Summary of key features

There is no right way of using ICT, which the teachers are expected to master and become expert at implementing into their practices; the seven participating teachers perceived and used the potential of ICT applications in the teaching and learning of mathematics in different ways according to their personal views of what an application is capable of and how it could benefit their teaching of mathematics and their pupils’ understanding and learning of mathematics. While this study is not about best practice with ICT, reading it and its findings provides practising teachers who are at different levels of ICT use into their practices with an opportunity to reflect on the experience of others, to examine critically their own practice through a process of comparison and self-evaluation, raising questions and providing a stimulus for discussion taking them beyond the limits of their own experience.

  • Summary of key results from the project

The contextual factors which emerged as influential in that it affected teachers’ learning about and incorporation of ICT in their teaching were found to be: availability of and access to ICT facilities and resources, teachers’ ICT skills, teachers’ ICT professional development, departmental ethos and key persons in promoting the use of ICT and the departmental policy with regard to integrating ICT into the mathematics scheme of work.

However, the main finding of this study was that teachers’ own learning experiences with ICT is of paramount importance in their uptake and implementation of ICT, more powerful than simply adopting the resources and ideas presented to them by others or acquired through attending professional development programs, for example. In the case of the seven participating teachers, their own experiences of doing mathematics with ICT were a source that enabled the teachers to experience for themselves, as learners, the potential of an application in the understanding and learning of mathematics. From such personal experiences, the teachers gained knowledge about how pupils could benefit from using various applications.

  • References to publications relating to the project
  1. Crisan, C, Lerman, S. & Winbourne, P.: 2007, ‘Mathematics and ICT: a framework for conceptualising secondary school mathematics teachers’ classroom practices’, Technology, Pedagogy and Education, issue 16 (2), pp. 21-39.
  2. Crisan, C.: 2005, ‘Mathematics teachers’ own learning experiences with ICT: shaping teachers’ personal pedagogical expertise with the technology’, in Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching (ICTMT), eds. F. Olivero & R. Sutherland, John Cabot City Technology College & Bristol University, UK, vol. 2, pp.88-95, 26 – 29 July 2005.
  3. Crisan, C.: 2005, ‘How mathematics teachers’ own learning experiences with ICT affect their classroom practices’, MicroMath Spring 2005, vol 21/1, pp. 14-16.
  4. Crisan, C.: 2005, ‘Conceptualising mathematics teachers’ incorporation of ICT into their classroom practices’ - paper presented at BERA (British Educational Research Association) Conference, Manchester University, UK, 15 -18 September 2004.
  5. Crisan, C.: 2004, ‘Mathematics teachers’ learning about and incorporation of ICT into classroom practices’, in McNamara O. (ed.) Proceedings of the day conference held on 12 June at the University of Leeds. BSRLM Proceedings, Vol. 24, pp. 21-26. London: British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics.
  6. Crisan, C.: 2004, ‘Mathematics teachers’ learning about and incorporation of ICT into classroom practices’, in McNamara O (ed.) Proceedings of the day conference held on 12 June at the University of Leeds. BSRLM Proceedings (Vol. 24). London: British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, pp. 21-26.