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Learning to elicit student thinking: the role of planning to support academically rigorous questioning sequences during instruction

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Abstract

The use of questioning to elicit student thinking is one of the cornerstones of ambitious teaching; thus, supporting prospective teachers in this complex practice is a core objective of mathematics teacher education. In this paper, we examine the academic rigor of the sustained questioning sequences prospective teachers use during instruction to elicit student thinking and the possible factor lesson planning plays in enacted sequences involving academically rigorous questions. We analyzed the questions they asked during lessons in an early field experience and traced how prospective teachers prepared for those questions as represented in their lesson plans. From our analysis, we found prospective teachers used three types of sustained questioning sequences when eliciting student thinking in the enactment of the lesson. Further, we found evidence suggesting a connection between the questions asked during enactment of a lesson and the quality of questions prospective teachers incorporated into their lesson plan. These findings inform how mathematics teacher educators can support prospective teachers during lesson planning to prepare to elicit student thinking in productive ways.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deepest thanks to Fran Arbaugh, Michelle Cirillo, and Kevin Voogt for their generosity with their time to review the manuscript of this work. This research was supported through funding from the National Science Foundation (DRLs 1725910, 1725920, 1726364; Bieda, Arbaugh, Cirillo PIs). Any opinions, conclusions, or recommendations contained herein are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

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  1. Department of Teacher Education, College of Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Sheila Orr & Kristen Bieda

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  1. Sheila Orr
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Correspondence to Sheila Orr.

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Appendices

Appendix A

Lesson Preparation Template

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Orr, S., Bieda, K. Learning to elicit student thinking: the role of planning to support academically rigorous questioning sequences during instruction. J Math Teacher Educ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-023-09603-5

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