Ameliorating Pedagogical Competencies in Mathematics for Secondary School Teachers

doi:10.4236/ce.2013.43029

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Creative Education

2013. Vol.4, No.3, 194-195

Published Online March 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ce) DOI:10.4236/ce.2013.43029

Ameliorating Pedagogical Competencies in Mathematics for

Secondary School Teachers

Rebecca R. Robichaux1, Paulette Rodrigue2, Anthony J. Guarino3

1Curriculum Education, Mississippi State University, Starkville, USA

2Curriculum Education, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, USA

3Massachusetts General Hospital, Institute of Health Professions, Boston, USA

Email: [email protected]

Received January 15th, 2013; revised February 20th, 2013; accepted February 28th, 2013

This article reports the efficacy of the Multidimensional Content-Based Mathematics Professional De-

velopment Project in ameliorating pedagogical competencies in mathematics for secondary school teach-

ers. The project protocol is an intensive two week all day summer session with six all day Saturday ses-

sions scheduled throughout the following fall semester. Participants were 28 secondary mathematics

teachers randomly selected from schools identified as low-performing. Data were analyzed by conducting

a repeated measure analysis of variance and a polynomial regression analysis. Results indicated a statisti-

cally significant 28% improvement in mathematics pedagogical competencies. Implications of this study

are discussed.

Keywords: Mathematics Education; Pedagogy; Professional Development

Introduction

A comprehensive literature review documents that many

middle and high school teachers lack pedagogical content

knowledge in mathematics (Ball, Hill, & Bass, 2005). This lack

of competent pedagogy is a major cause of students’ substan-

dard performance on standardized mathematics exams across

the United States (Hill & Lubienski, 2007). To ameliorate

teachers’ pedagogical competencies, some regional postse-

condary institutions form partnerships with secondary schools.

Through these partnerships, the postsecondary academy deli-

vers professional development programs to the secondary edu-

cators on current evidence-based teaching practices. One such

professional development program is the Multidimensional

Content-Based Mathematics Professional Development Project.

This project was developed at a Doctorate-granting University

located in southeastern United States. This innovative program

was devised to advance pedagogical competencies in mathe-

matics education for both new and veteran teachers. The activi-

ties of this program present the current research-based teaching

strategies and assessment techniques to advance student mathe-

matics performance (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001).

While current research supports the overall successes of part-

nership programs in general (Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008),

the principal aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of

the Multidimensional Content-Based Mathematics Professional

Development Project to ameliorate pedagogical competencies

in mathematics for middle and high school teachers.

Method

Participants and Procedure

The cohort of 28 mathematics teachers was randomly se-

lected from middle and high schools identified as low-per-

forming. The majority of these teachers were female ranging in

age from 19 to 56 with teaching experience ranging from 3 to

17 years. The teacher-participants enrolled in a six-hour gradu-

ate course scheduled all day for two-weeks in the summer and

concluded with six all day Saturday sessions the following fall

semester. These sessions on pedagogical content presented

meaningful and relevant activities for the teacher’s current

classroom needs. These exercises are endorsed by the national

standards (NCTM, 2000) as well as documented by evi-

dence-based practice to advance student achievement (Marzano,

Norford, Paynter, Pickering, Pollock, & Gaddy, 2001). The

participants first observed the activity from the program mentor

then performed the activity to the cohort allowing for mean-

ingful dialogue concerning the strategies and how to effectively

implement them in their classrooms. To receive graduate credit,

participants were required to develop a number of projects.

Examples of these projects included a literature search to re-

view two current research articles on any topic within the do-

main of mathematics teaching and then present a synopsis to

the cohort. Another project involved evaluating the legitimacy

of Websites for mathematics teaching. The participants created

a rubric to assess such criteria as (a) type of domain, (b) au-

thor’s credentials, (c) well-documented sources, and (d) how

others critiqued the page (Barker, 2004). This evaluation of the

websites led to the identification of ten useful, reliable sites

which were then summarized and presented to the cohort.

These websites provided a solid resource in developing their

lesson plan project. The literature research activities and the

website evaluations provided the foundations for the lesson

plan project. The lesson plan project required participants to

select and develop a five-day mathematics unit of their choice

that incorporated research-based strategies and addressed ap-

propriate state and national mathematics standards.

Instrumentation

A 20 item examination was developed to assess the partici-

194

R. R. ROBICHAUX ET AL.

pants’ competencies on evidence-based mathematical peda-

gogical content. Possible scores ranged from 0 to 100 percent

and assessments were recorded at baseline and at post interven-

tion.

Statistical Analyses

Statistical tests for this study included a repeated measures

analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) and a polynomial re-

gression analysis. All statistical tests were conducted using

IBM SPSS v19 with alpha set at p < 0.05.

Results

The pretest pedagogical competencies scores were M =

69.36% (SD = 11.88) while the post-test scores were M =

88.68% (SD = 7.45) indicating a 27.84% improvement, which

is a statistically significant increase, F (1, 27) = 139.98, p <

0.001, η2 = 0.84, an extremely large effect. A polynomial

regression analysis was conducted to determine the relationship

between pre and post scores. The results indicated that the

quadratic relationship was superior to the linear relationship

with coefficients of determination of 0.57 and 0.42 respectively.

In other words, greater gains appeared to occur with those who

had lower pre scores, while smaller gains were observed for

those with higher pre-scores.

Discussion

Although further research is recommended to validate these

positive results, these preliminary findings provide convincing

evidence of the project’s effectiveness with significant statisti-

cal and practical amelioration in mathematics pedagogical

competencies for secondary teachers. Not only did the results of

the post-test scores indicate overall pedagogical gains by the

participants, but those who scored lower on the pre-test actually

“caught up” with their higher scoring pre-test peers. Thus, at

the completion of the intervention, the majority of the partici-

pants were at equivalent levels of mathematical pedagogical

competencies. Post intervention interviews substantiated the

program’s success. Examples included the secondary teacher

participant who reported, “Professionally I have learned to

reflect on my teaching practices. I now provide more problem

solving experiences and alternative assessments. I have made

professional friendships with other math teachers. Networking

was great!” Another teacher participant noted, “The program

helped me to vary my instructional strategies... and helps to

increase content knowledge and improve instructional practices.

I have learned to adapt activities into more student-centered

activities”. The program illustrated that effective professional

development can directly impact teachers’ instructional prac-

tices regardless of the teacher’s prior experience when profes-

sional development contents are meaningful and relevant to

teachers’ current classroom needs. These preliminary results

strongly suggest the implementation of this project for math

teachers aspiring to develop their pedagogical mathematical

competencies and subsequently advance students’ mathematics

performance.

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