The Study
Five members of Investigating Mathematics Teaching (IMT), a project of the National Center for Research on Teacher Learning (NCRTL), collaborated in this work to tell the stories of three teachers who, as a result of teaching math in new ways, expanded their own understanding of the material they taught. The authors of this case study were: Helen Featherstone, associate professor of teacher education at Michigan State University; Stephen P. Smith, at the time a doctoral candidate in teacher education at Michigan State University; Kathrene Beasley, a third grade teacher at Averill Elementary School in Lansing, Michigan; Deborah Corbin, a third grade teacher at Post Oak School in Lansing; and Carole Shank, a second grade teacher at Averill Elementary. The subjects in the paper are the three teachers mentioned above.

The Findings
Beasley, Corbin and Shank all learned math in traditional classrooms and each emerged from their educations with a similar aversion and lack of confidence in the subject. Their involvement in the IMT project allowed each one to experience videos, journals and discussions about classrooms where students were given opportunities to find their own solutions to math problems and encouraged to share their ideas with classmates. Each woman expressed fascination with what they saw happening in these model classes, and during the 1991-92 school year they began altering their own curriculum to include these new methods. Through their efforts to approach math differently and through more engaged mathematical interaction with their students, all three teachers experienced positive changes in how they understood and felt about math. They came to learn math in a more significant and deeper way than they had experienced in their own math classes and even during IMT observations and discussions. Because they encouraged students to search for the concepts behind mathematical problems and solutions, the teachers themselves became involved and excited in the process of learning math.

What It Means to You
If teachers in your district want a greater subject-matter understanding of mathematics, they might best learn by exploring ways in their own classrooms to teach the subject with greater interaction between students. Does your district provide materials and support to teachers who want to explore this method of teaching and learning in math? Does your district encourage teachers to give students the opportunity to reason and develop their own problem-solving strategies in math?

More Information
Consult Featherstone, H., Smith, S.P., Beasley, K., Corbin, D., and Shank, C., (1995),"Expanding the Equation: Learning Mathematics Through Teaching in New Ways," Research Report 95-1, pp. 1-30. You can find the entire article on the NCRTL Web site. The paper is located in the research reports section of the Web site.

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