Research on Mathematics Teacher Learning from VideoVideo allows teachers to slow down the teaching process, identify problems of practice, and study possible solutions. Several groups around the world have experimented with video-based lesson analysis as an approach to improve teacher knowledge and practice.
Despite growing interest in video-based teacher learning programs, empirical evidence on their effects on teacher knowledge and practice is still limited. In response to this gap, I investigate the processes in which teachers engage while watching videotaped lessons; I also develop measures to assess teacher learning.
Review of Research on the Use of Video for Teacher Learning
Research Projects
Pre/Post-Test Study of Pre-Service Teacher Learning
As Adjunct Professor at the University of Lazio, Italy, I have given courses to pre-service teachers for four consecutive years and conducted research on their lesson analysis abilities.
One project involved 100+ pre-service mathematics teachers enrolled in a lesson planning course. The course required them to analyze lessons videotaped in other countries. These student teachers’ lesson-analysis abilities improved significantly, as evidenced by a series of criteria derived from the review of their written assignments. These criteria included: degree of elaboration, links to evidence, mathematical content, student learning, alternative teaching strategies, and critical approach.
Relevant publications:
Santagata and Zannoni, 2003;
- Santagata, Zannoni, and Stigler, 2007
ComparingTwo Observation Framework
Two courses based on different observational frameworks are compared through an experimental research design and their effectiveness on pre-service teacher analysis abilities is studied. A manuscript summarizing research findings is in progress.
Comparing Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers' Analysis Abilities and Learning Trajectories
A previously tested observation framework was used with a group of pre-service and a group of in-service teachers. The two groups were compared for their initial analysis abilities and their learning outcomes. Preliminary findings of these two studies were presented at academic conferences and are the focus of a manuscript currently in progress.
Relevant conference presentations:
Capturing Teacher Knowledge (TeKno)
In a new project, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and conducted in collaboration with researches from the LessonLab Research Institute, we are developing a measure of lesson analysis abilities and studying the correlation between these abilities, the quality of instructional practices, and student learning.