An Exploratory Study of the Impact of Situated Professional Development for Integrating Technology in Mathematics Instruction on Pedagogical Beliefs and Teaching Practices of Secondary Mathematics Teachers in a School with a High African American, Low-Income Student Population

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of providing secondary mathematics teachers in a school with a high African American, low-income student population with situated professional development that focuses on integrating mathematical action technology within teaching practices. This study focused on how the professional development affected the teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and integration of mathematical action technology. The multiple case studies examined the beliefs and practices of 6 secondary mathematics teachers (4 high school and 2 middle school). Analysis of data collected from departmental workshops, pre-and post-interviews, observations, observation debrief interviews, multiple planning sessions, lesson plan analysis, and department meetings revealed an increase in students’ and participants’ use of mathematical action technology to explore mathematics content increased during the study. Participants continued to implement mathematical action technology into their lessons after the study was completed. Additionally, participants decreased their overall use of low-level cognitive demand tasks during and after participating in the study.