Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn via Visualization

Intentional Approach Involving pre-service teachers as learners in inquiry activities and then… Reflecting on those learning activities as teachers

An Intentional Recursive Pattern in Mathematics and Science Pre-Service Teacher Education Immersion (e.g., in content-based activities that promote modeling and visualization) Reflection (of how content knowledge and understanding influence pedagogical understanding) Synthesis (of theory and practice as a novice teacher exiting the teacher education program)

Some pleasant benefits… Along the way, we find our students… Developing math/science representations through collaboration Reporting creatively with interactive multimedia presentations

Some discoveries… Modeling and visualization activities promote access to significant ideas in science and mathematics Technology-based instruction helps promote higher-ordered cognition (inquiry, posing problems, formulating and testing conjectures, etc) Emphasis is placed on competencies in both subject matter and pedagogy

Furthermore,… Visualization and modeling activities Data are now being gathered (with increased sophistication) to document growth. These data are being collected from the cohorts in Year One through the end of Year Two and they address the pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward: Visualization and modeling activities Instructional uses of technology Implementing these ideas as a novice teacher

In conclusion, we are learning the importance of connectivity…

Connectivity? The importance of exploration with pre-service teachers…

Leads to the potential of in-service teachers’ continued willingness to explore…

Which, in turn, promotes our ultimate objective.