What Core Knowledge do Doctoral Students in Mathematics Education Need to Know?
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Transcript of What Core Knowledge do Doctoral Students in Mathematics Education Need to Know?
What Core Knowledge do What Core Knowledge do Doctoral Students in Mathematics Doctoral Students in Mathematics
Education Need to Know?Education Need to Know?
Joan Ferrini-Mundy
National Science Foundation
Conference on Doctoral Programs in Mathematics Education
Kansas City
September 24, 2007
purposes ofdoctoral education
professional practice
of doctoralmathematics
educators
core knowledge for
doctoral mathematics education
context and trends
observations on the observations on the purposes of doctoral purposes of doctoral
educationeducation:
“…to educate and prepare those to whom we can entrust the vigor, quality, and integrity of the field …a scholar first and foremost, who will creatively generate new knowledge, critically conserve valuable and useful ideas, and responsibly transform those understandings through writing, teaching, and application … a ‘steward of the discipline’…”
Chris Golde, 2006, Preparing Stewards of the Discipline, p. 5
“…I believe that a professional field like ours is different from traditional academic disciplines. It requires different talents and different kinds of knowledge, and it makes different kinds of contributions to society. Ours is an appropriately eclectic field. It requires advanced study and skills comparable to those in other professional fields that award doctorate, but a narrow focus on research isn’t the right thing.”
Jim Fey, 2001, Doctoral programs in mathematics education: Features, options, and challenges, p. 57
“…U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers who will pursue careers in research and education, with the interdisciplinary backgrounds, deep knowledge in chosen disciplines, and technical, professional, and personal skills to become, in their own careers, leaders and creative agents for change… understand and integrate scientific, technical, business, social, ethical, and policy issues to confront the challenging problems of the future….”
National Science Foundation, 2007, Integrative Graduate Education And Research Traineeship Program Solicitation
“The PhD program should be designed to prepare scholars who can provide normative as well as epistemic theory, research, and analysis in ways that place discussions about the enterprise in frameworks that are both analytical and morally defensible….a steward who is responsible for both the field of education study and the education enterprise.”
Virginia Richardson, Stewards of a field, stewards of an enterprise: The doctorate in education, pp. 251-2
“Doctoral education is organized around an intensive, real-world research experience that prepares students to be scholars capable of discovering, integrating, and applying knowledge…”
Council of Graduate Schools, 1990, cited in National Science Foundation U.S. Doctorates in the 20th Century, 2006
“…ensure the vitality of intellectual discovery and to promote an environment that cultivates rigorous scholarship”
Council of Graduate Schools, Mission Statement, 2007
“My years at Stanford were a time for tearing down and rebuilding my ideas of mathematics education….I think all of us were learning something more fundamental: to be able to adapt high-quality mathematics education practices to whatever context we found.”
Jim Wilson, 2003, Development of a mathematics education community: A personal perspective.
pp. 1793-1794
stewards of the discipline
narrow focus on research isn’t the right thing …
…leaders and creative agents for change
…confront challenging problems of the future
scholars capable of discovering, integrating, and applying knowledge…
steward who is responsible for both the field of education study and the education enterprise
cultivate rigorous scholarship
STEWARDSHIP
DISCOVERY
LEADERSHIP
APPLICATION
the professional the professional practice of doctoral practice of doctoral
mathematics educatorsmathematics educators
What is the “practice” of mathematics education?
research teaching service curriculum
design teacher
education
September 21, 2007—With lawmakers and school leaders alike stressing the importance of math, science, and technology (MST) education in preparing students for 21st-century jobs and careers, one might assume that parents and students would agree these subjects are crucial to their future success. But a new report challenges this assumption. According to the report, titled "Important, But Not for Me: Parents and Students in Kansas and Missouri Talk About Math, Science, and Technology Education," parents and students say they understand the importance of MST skills in general--but they don't see these as important for themselves.
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What is the “practice” of mathematics education?
research teaching service curriculum
design teacher
education
critique make an argument explain write trim synthesize learn collaborate mentor lead
Where do mathematics educators work?
Higher education (doctoral, masters, bachelors, community colleges)
K-12 (schools, districts) Government (state, federal) Business and industry (training, publishing,
assessment) R&D, think tanks, consulting, development
firms
Developing Leadership for Mathematics Developing Leadership for Mathematics and Science Educationand Science Education
Joan Ferrini-Mundy Robert Floden
James GallagherCharles Anderson
Scott Ashmann Gail Burrill
Marco Meneketti
Michigan State UniversityA Report on NSF ESIE 0101110
Research Questions
1. Characteristics of current leaders in mathematics and science education?
2. What led to their leadership and influence? 3. What has been their role as leaders? 4. Where will the next generation of leaders come
from?
Study Components
• Review of literature
• Examine national data bases
• Interview study of leaders
• Study of doctoral programs in market perspective
Leadership Development
• Background
• Ability
• Opportunity
• Context
• Responsibility
• Influence
Arenas of Leadership
• Undergraduate education• Teacher preparation• Professional development• Research • K-12 curriculum/instructional programs• Assessment • Standards • Policy making
Interview Study of 71 Leaders
• Characteristics of current leaders?
• What led to their leadership and influence?
• What has been their role in mathematics and science education?
Interview Study
• Method of selection
- national & state leaders; recent graduates
- wanted to span the variability of the field
- 8 arenas of leadership
• Interview procedures and questions
- early influences & graduate education
- 3 career “episodes”
Findings:Early Experiences
• Develop interest in mathematics or science education
• Influence of parent or teacher
• Sometimes a negative experience built commitment to change
Findings: Doctoral Work as a Launchpad for Leadership
• Mentors• Apprenticeships
– Research assistantships– Teaching assistantships
• Connections – Faculty– Students– Others in the field
Findings: Influence of Formal Coursework
• Few mentioned contributions to leadership
• Mixed reports of the salience of content preparation
• There is a sentiment, though, that strong math background adds credibility
Findings: Reported Leadership Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions• Vision
– Salesmanship– Commitment to long-term goals
• Good citizenship (willingness to assume leadership)
• Interpersonal skills and importance of collaboration
• Readiness to learn• Results-oriented approach
Reported Leadership Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions (continued)
• Risk tolerance• Leaders don’t report starting out planning to
be leaders• Important to be able to deal with
controversy
• Vision for improvement and belief they can make a difference
Reported Sources of Opportunities
• Serendipity• Engagement with current leaders• Promotion by mentors• More than one route to leadership;
backgrounds are varied• Participation in big efforts puts people in
places where their leadership can be seen and recognized
The Role of External Funding
• NSF Summer Institutes– Interest in pursuing higher study– Personal connections
• Funded projects– Incentive for selecting doctoral program– Site for work with mentor– Connections to others in the field
context and trendscontext and trends
US PhDs awarded between 1920 and 1999: 1,354,873
Science and engineering: 835,221 Non-science and engineering: 519,652
Education: 256,014 Mathematics education 3,084
NSF, US Doctorates in the 20th Century, 2006
NSF Centers for Learning and Teaching (2000-2005): Tackle complex problems through collaboration
among researchers and STEM educators from different traditions and communities
Offer graduate students the broad range of knowledge, skills, and tools they will need to become leaders in the field
Focus research and training on pressing issues facing STEM education in K-12 schools
14 centers: 58 new graduate courses As of May, 2006, support for more than 350
doctoral students
Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness
to advance and disseminate research on the causal effects of education interventions, practices, programs, and policies increase the capacity to design and conduct
investigations that have a strong base for causal inference
bring together people investigating cause-and-effect relations in education
promote the understanding and use of scientific evidence to improve education decisions and outcomes.
Trends: NSF
integration of research and education potentially transformative research innovation and discovery definition of “rigorous” research
More trends: Public engagement with controversial issues
about mathematics curriculum and teaching Heightened accountability at all levels; metrics,
measures, impact, causality Local, state, and national policy debates and
activities affecting mathematics education “nearby” fields: science education, technology
education
and more… mathematics teaching and learning across the
K-20 spectrum learning mathematics outside of school globalization, interest in international practices
and benchmarking building the STEM workforce, building STEM
literacy
core knowledge for core knowledge for doctoral mathematics doctoral mathematics
educationeducation
research….lists….questions
Reys, Teuscher, Nevels, & Glasgow, 2007, p. 10
Reys, Teuscher, Nevels, & Glasgow, 2007, p. 10
•Mathematics content
•Research
•Educational contexts
•Learning
•Teaching and teacher education
•Technology
•Curriculum and assessment
mathematics and its applications how people learn experience as a teacher broader educational and social context teacher candidates, in-service teachers, and
schools research basis for practices scholarly skills to contribute to the
improvement of mathematics education
Jim Fey, 2001. Doctoral programs in mathematics education: Features, options, and challenges, pp. 56-57
This conference… Mathematics Curriculum Policy Teaching Diversity Technology
Richardson: preparing stewards requires addressing
Formal knowledge Practical knowledge
Beliefs and misconceptions
David Berliner, 2006, Toward a future as rich as our past.
Rethink the methods course Consider the rationale for presenting big ideas Introduce doctoral students to the sites where
students live and learn Design a research internship in a complex
environment Develop an understanding of educational policy
Views from educational psychology:
Core for all? Maybe not ….Core for all? Maybe not ….
Institutional capacity Character of the program Past as prologue
Questions: Institutional Capacity
What is the nature of your intellectual community?
What is your institutional capacity to mentor well?
What are your hiring plans/potential shifts in your faculty in the next 5-10 years?
What resources/allies do you have outside of mathematics education?
Questions: Character of the Program
How dynamic and responsive to changing context do you want your program be?
Are you trying to prepare a particular type of scholar?
Where are you on the stewardship-discovery-leadership-application terrain?
Questions: Past as Prologue What kind of students are attracted to your
program? Do you have a large contingent of international
students? What do you know about the graduates of your
program? Can you describe the portfolio of dissertations
your program has produced?
research
mathematics
learning
Core knowledge for doctoral students?
research
mathematics
learning
Expanded core knowledge for doctoral students?
ethics
resources for learning
teaching policy
contexts
teachereducation
international issues
technology
diversity and equity
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