ECR Projects

Explore past and current fundamental STEM education research projects across the three research areas that NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program funds, as well as across ECR funding types. Other search filters draw from both NSF's data and the ECR Hub's hand coding of award abstracts.

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Examining Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers Learning to Use Curriculum Materials to Plan and Enact Instruction

Effective Years: 2017-2024

There are a growing number of curriculum resources available to secondary mathematics teachers and most teachers use curriculum materials in mathematics instruction. This project will investigate how to help pre-service teachers use mathematics curriculum materials purposefully to plan and to teach. A focus of this work is curricular noticing or how teachers interpret and respond to curriculum resources. A component of helping pre-service teachers prepare for the classroom is helping them understand how to effectively and purposefully use the tools that have been provided to them. The study includes data collected from experienced teachers and pre-service teachers as well as the design of resources for mathematics teacher educators. A significant component is studying what teachers notice when reviewing curriculum and planning for teaching. This work has implications for the design of curriculum materials and for teacher education. This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-wide activity that offers awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.

The study has five research and educational objectives related to curricular noticing. First, to understand how to define the curricular noticing practices of attending to, interpreting, and deciding to respond to curriculum materials so that they are useful to research and teaching. Second, to understand what kinds of experiences best reveal the curricular noticing practices. Third, to understand and document the curricular noticing practices of practicing teachers. Fourth, to understand and document the curricular noticing practices of prospective teachers during and beyond teacher preparation. Fifth, to develop a module to support prospective teachers learning of the curricular noticing practice. To accomplish these goals, the study will incorporate interviews with experienced teachers and prospective teachers and conduct classroom observations. Some interviews will include eye-tracking technology to interpret what teachers attend to when looking at materials for planning. For the prospective teachers, a longitudinal approach will be used to investigate their curricular noticing during their preparation program and into their first years of teaching. From an education standpoint, the project will also include the creation of resources for other mathematics teacher preparation programs and courses to use. The project also includes professional development in curriculum use for secondary mathematics teachers.