Developing Student Teachers’ Skills at Eliciting Students’ Mathematical Thinking Using the Coaching Cycle

Abstract

Eliciting students’ thinking is a key component of effective student-centered mathematics instruction, and research demonstrates promising approaches to developing this skill in pre-service teachers [PSTs] during methods courses. However, few studies have provided insight into how PSTs can be supported in continuing to develop the skill of eliciting thinking during student teaching internships. This case study describes the development of two PSTs as they worked to fully elicit their students’ thinking during their internship, with the support of a coach. The PSTs’ development generally aligned with an emergent trajectory synthesized from the literature; however, additional specificity was needed to fully interpret the data. Both PSTs learned to effectively probe the thinking of students who provided correct answers to initial prompts but made less progress in probing students’ incorrect answers. The article concludes with an analysis of the learning opportunities presented by the coaching moves, as well as missed opportunities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 During recruitment by one of the authors, it was made clear that their participation in the study was voluntary. The coaching was non-evaluative and no grades were assigned, minimizing the chance that they felt coerced to participate.

2 At a colleague’s suggestion, the coach has begun to use the term “uncover” rather than “diagnose,” to help PSTs see that these eliciting questions are meant to uncover partial understandings upon which a deeper understanding can be built, as opposed to diagnosing a deficiency