The Influence of Lesson Planning as Evidenced in Social Media on Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Instruction
Item
Title
The Influence of Lesson Planning as Evidenced in Social Media on Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Instruction
Abstract/Description
Objective and Perspective.
This study examined associations between instructional resources accessed and shared by teachers and their enactment of ambitious mathematics instruction. Several studies have explored instructional planning and teaching enactment (e.g., Livingston & Borko, 1990; Peterson et al., 1978). Yet, in the 2020s, teachers demonstrate increasing agency as curators of instructional resources within virtual spaces (Author, In press). As they accumulate resources, teachers may curate them in particular ways, providing a window into how they conceptualize mathematics instruction.
While instructional resources frame teachers’ planning and reflect their thinking, many other factors affect instructional enactment (Conners, 1978; Lowyck, 1980). In addition, how teachers view instructional content, plan lessons, present content, and respond to students is associated with their individual theories of education, teaching, and learning (Clark & Petersen, 1986). In this study, we focus on Pinterest, a personalized social media platform, because it is one of the most frequently-used sites (Author, 2019; Opfer et al., 2016).
Data and Methods.
We collected Pinterest data in eight sampled school districts from the origin of their Pinterest accounts (2011 or later) to 2017. Using the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy and Depth of Knowledge rubrics (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001), we analyzed mathematics instructional resources “pinned” for 52 early career teachers with Pinterest accounts. We then employed multilevel modeling on 899 math instruction episodes to assess the association between the resources teachers curate and their implementation of ambitious mathematics instruction. This is illustrated in Model 1:
TRU Mathijt =β0 + β1Resource Qualityjt0->t-1 + β2TRU Mathjt-1 + μk +θj+rij+ej (1)
We model teachers’ episode level TRU Math score with the predictor of resource quality at the teacher level, accounting for the year and district effect. TRU Mathijt is the TRU Math score on episode i of teacher j measured at time t (visit 2), TRU Mathjt-1 is the average TRU Math score of teacher j measured at time t-1 (visit 1; i.e., one semester prior to the second observation measure). Resource qualityjt0->t-1 is teacher j’s average resource quality level as measured by the revised Bloom’s taxonomy (or the proportion of resources at a specific cognitive demand level) aggregated over time prior to the second observational measure of TRU Math.
Findings.
Results show that the quality of virtual resources that a teacher curates are statistically significantly associated with their enactment of ambitious mathematics instruction, controlling for prior behavior, activity type, years of experience, and district effects. Specifically, as early career teachers curate a higher proportion of tasks that address higher order mathematical thinking, their TRU Math ratings decrease in the areas of mathematics, cognitive demand enactment, student agency, and use of formative assessment. This may relate to teachers curating resources outside their proximal development for teaching enactment.
Significance.
As the world confronts a pandemic, teachers increasingly engage online. Findings examine connections between teachers’ practice and the role of virtual resource curation. As we adjust to changes caused by COVID-19, understanding how online resources relate to teaching pedagogy will enable districts to better support instruction.
This study examined associations between instructional resources accessed and shared by teachers and their enactment of ambitious mathematics instruction. Several studies have explored instructional planning and teaching enactment (e.g., Livingston & Borko, 1990; Peterson et al., 1978). Yet, in the 2020s, teachers demonstrate increasing agency as curators of instructional resources within virtual spaces (Author, In press). As they accumulate resources, teachers may curate them in particular ways, providing a window into how they conceptualize mathematics instruction.
While instructional resources frame teachers’ planning and reflect their thinking, many other factors affect instructional enactment (Conners, 1978; Lowyck, 1980). In addition, how teachers view instructional content, plan lessons, present content, and respond to students is associated with their individual theories of education, teaching, and learning (Clark & Petersen, 1986). In this study, we focus on Pinterest, a personalized social media platform, because it is one of the most frequently-used sites (Author, 2019; Opfer et al., 2016).
Data and Methods.
We collected Pinterest data in eight sampled school districts from the origin of their Pinterest accounts (2011 or later) to 2017. Using the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy and Depth of Knowledge rubrics (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001), we analyzed mathematics instructional resources “pinned” for 52 early career teachers with Pinterest accounts. We then employed multilevel modeling on 899 math instruction episodes to assess the association between the resources teachers curate and their implementation of ambitious mathematics instruction. This is illustrated in Model 1:
TRU Mathijt =β0 + β1Resource Qualityjt0->t-1 + β2TRU Mathjt-1 + μk +θj+rij+ej (1)
We model teachers’ episode level TRU Math score with the predictor of resource quality at the teacher level, accounting for the year and district effect. TRU Mathijt is the TRU Math score on episode i of teacher j measured at time t (visit 2), TRU Mathjt-1 is the average TRU Math score of teacher j measured at time t-1 (visit 1; i.e., one semester prior to the second observation measure). Resource qualityjt0->t-1 is teacher j’s average resource quality level as measured by the revised Bloom’s taxonomy (or the proportion of resources at a specific cognitive demand level) aggregated over time prior to the second observational measure of TRU Math.
Findings.
Results show that the quality of virtual resources that a teacher curates are statistically significantly associated with their enactment of ambitious mathematics instruction, controlling for prior behavior, activity type, years of experience, and district effects. Specifically, as early career teachers curate a higher proportion of tasks that address higher order mathematical thinking, their TRU Math ratings decrease in the areas of mathematics, cognitive demand enactment, student agency, and use of formative assessment. This may relate to teachers curating resources outside their proximal development for teaching enactment.
Significance.
As the world confronts a pandemic, teachers increasingly engage online. Findings examine connections between teachers’ practice and the role of virtual resource curation. As we adjust to changes caused by COVID-19, understanding how online resources relate to teaching pedagogy will enable districts to better support instruction.
Author/creator
Date
At conference
AERA Annual Meeting
Resource type
Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
Presentation/Poster
Scholarship genre
Empirical
Open access/full-text available
No
Peer reviewed
No
Citation
Torphy Knake, K. T., Hu, S., & Liu, Y. (2021, April 9). The Influence of Lesson Planning as Evidenced in Social Media on Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Instruction [Virtual]. AERA Annual Meeting.
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