There are a number of steps that facilitators can take to ensure that the teachers they work with will derive optimal benefit from the TIMSS video lessons. The American Federation of Teachers, for example, has made use of the lessons in particular ways. The following suggestions are based on practical experiences of using the lessons with teachers.
It is helpful for facilitators to think about what viewers will find salient in a video and what aspects of the video may impede their analysis of the video (Seago, 2000). Possible barriers include:
- the mathematics in the lesson
- efforts to evaluate the teacher (although the video may not provide sufficient information about teacher and students)
- differences between the class in the video and a teacher’s own class
- too many kinds of information to absorb at one time.
Seago suggests that it is often helpful to anticipate viewers’ difficulties and reactions. Before seeing the video, facilitators should have teachers work on the problems shown in the video. Depending on the intended goal of the video session, it may also be useful to discuss more than one solution of the problem before showing the video.
A video showing a classroom that differs from a teacher’s own classroom can afford opportunities to learn about teaching.Facilitators should frame the session as an analysis of classroom interaction, rather than as an evaluation of the teacher. It is important to emphasize that a video showing a classroom that differs from a teacher’s own—in terms of grade level or students’ socio-economic class or ethnicity—can still afford opportunities to learn about teaching. In fact, this is the premise behind the value of an international study like TIMSS.
While showing the video, facilitators should ask viewers to focus on only one aspect of the classroom. Another strategy is to show the video twice, first allowing teachers to focus on aspects that are salient to them (Seago, 2000, p. 74). Seago created guidelines for facilitators, with detailed suggestions for viewing three clips from the TIMSS lessons. These guidelines include learning objectives as well as prompts for facilitators and a recommended breakdown of time for each topic.
Gail Hood and David Rasmussen, who have worked extensively with the TIMSS videos, suggest a specific approach (personal communication, Jan. 2005). They advise that facilitators have teachers watch one entire lesson before going on to further analysis, selecting the lesson from those that contain the clips they will later use. Teachers can view the lesson individually before the group discussion.
Hood and Rasmussen point out that this may be the first time that many teachers have watched someone else (apart from themselves or their colleagues) teach a lesson. It may also be the first video of a classroom or a lesson from another country teachers have viewed. This initial viewing gives teachers the chance to become accustomed to the cultural differences they will see in later clips. It shows that much more goes on in the classroom than can be captured in a clip and provides a continuum and a context for later discussion. This also offers a chance to talk about the mathematics and pedagogy of the lesson rather than focusing on the cultural differences.
Facilitators should provide a list of discussion points to be used after teachers have expressed their own ideas. These could include:
- What mathematics is being covered in this lesson?
- What method(s) is the teacher using in the classroom?
- How does the teacher use questioning in the classroom? What type of questions does the teacher use, and how do they promote student thinking?
- What are examples of student discussion about the mathematics?
- Are there points in the lesson where there is misunderstanding? If so, is the misunderstanding resolved? What else could the teacher do either in this lesson or a following one to address students’ misunderstanding?
Hood and Rasmussen also advise that teachers read the commentaries included in the TIMSS resources and see if and how these relate to what they saw in the lesson. Facilitators should also lead a discussion of the relevant lesson graph in light of the viewing in order to orient teachers as to what it is showing. This will also help when teachers use lesson graphs for other video clips without having watched entire lessons.
Susanna Epp of DePaul University used the Hong Kong 4 lesson on identity in a course, Discrete Structures for Teachers, which is an introduction to logical reasoning and proof. Most of the students were high school and middle school teachers taking the course as part of a master’s degree program in mathematics education. Following the course, Epp wrote a Report on the Use of HK4 in a Class for Teachers. This detailed and thoughtfully written report begins with a discussion of the logic of solving equations and how to move students beyond memorization to understanding. It also includes a summary of her and her students’ reactions to the HK4 lesson clips she showed, a problem and solution set, and a lesson (Logic of Representing Equations in the Cartesian Plane) her student Tanya DeGroot developed based on what she learned from the HK4 clips, plus the latter's analysis of the results of the lesson.
References
Hood, G., & Rasmussen, D. (2005). Personal communication to Cathy Kessel, Jan. 2005.
Seago, N.M. (2000). Using video of classroom practice as a tool to study and improve teaching. In Mathematics education in the middle grades. Teaching to meet the needs of middle grades learners and to maintain high expectations (pp. 63–74). Proceedings of a National Convocation and Action Conference. Mathematical Sciences Education Board, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.