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ROOT Module 6:

Preparing for

Spring Teaching Studies

Feb 2, 2021 at 4-5:30 PM or Feb 6, 2021 at 9-10:30 AM

Boise State University, root-rmc@boisestate.edu

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1907840. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Welcome to our Online Meeting

Microphones off, unmute to talk
Video on if possible, off if needed
Use the chat freely
Breakout room facilitators
Please have your planning calendar ready for the end
Get the slides by going to bit.ly/rootmod6

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Pre-PD Tasks

We hope you had a chance to complete these tasks:

Visual Patterns: Complete a Desmos Activity
Features of EAC and SOS: Watch videos, submit 2 forms.
Fall Teaching Study: Submit a Flipgrid post and comment on 2 others

LINK TO

PRE-PD SLIDES

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Goals for this PD

Big Picture - continue generating evidence for “promising” EAC/SOS instruction
Community - share experiences from Fall Teaching Studies
Math - build some new modeling and problem solving tasks
Research - debrief Fall Teaching Studies, prepare for Spring Teaching Studies
Teaching - practice seeing “features” of EAC/SOS

Main Goal: know what to expect for the Spring Teaching Studies

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Agenda for this PD

Features of EAC and SOS
Modeling and Problem-Solving
Fall Teaching Study Results
Upcoming ROOT Activities
Spring Teaching Study Planning

(Use links to jump to sections)

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Features of EAC and SOS

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Features of EAC and SOS

1 page Instructional Strategies guide

(mailed in January, email root@boisestate.edu for copies)

Features

Construct

Strategies

We’re studying how strategies can support FEATURES, �which are linked to student achievement.

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Michele - 4 mins

You should have all received two items in the mail. A one page document that emphasizes the Features of EAC and SOS and a revised practice guide (the two-sided document) that includes the Features of EAC and SOS. If you have those handy it would be great to have them in front of you now, no worries if not, the 1-page document is also linked on the slide and we’ll put the link in the chat.

So you may have noticed an increased focused - from us - on this idea of the features of EAC and SOS - so where did they come from, what are they, and why the increased focused?

Where did they come from:

The constructs of EAC and SOS came out of an analysis that spanned many years of mathematics education research. This analysis focused on the question - What aspects of instructional practice demonstrate improvement in students’ conceptual understanding and achievement? The three features that correspond to EAC and SOS respectively also identified in that same analysis. These were features of the instruction that provided for a strong focus on either EAC or SOS.

What are they:

You can see in orange - the features that support Explicit Attention to Concepts are (READ). The first two are clearly highlighted in the construct name but the third one is a bit less obvious but equally necessary. I’ve been wondering if we shouldn’t think of it as - Explicit Attention to Concepts and Connections (EACC). It is important to note that the features that can describe teacher and/or student activities in the classroom. In other words, it is not necessarily primarily focused on students.
Then you can see in orange - the features that support Student Opportunities to Struggle are (READ). These are a little less obvious in the Construct Name but again all three features need to be present for a high level of SOS. The SOS features describe the activities STUDENTS are engaged with in the classroom and the teacher’s role is to facilitate that engagement.

So why the increased focus:

One of the goals of the ROOT project is the iterative development of a framework - co-constructed through the grant activities - that highlight how the constructs of EAC and SOS can best be implemented in practice. During the fall teaching studies, we noticed a strong focus on the strategies and tools. We are hoping to now ground that foundational work with tools and strategies through the lens of features in the spring teaching teaching study. In other words, how can we ensure the 3 features are present - regardless of the strategies and tools selected?

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Watch this video →
Identify the features of EAC, if they can be seen/heard.
Submit the form below

EAC Features Reflection Form

3 Features of EAC

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Features of EAC

Work this math task:

Explain where all the numbers from the equation are in the bar model

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Finding the 3 Features of EAC in Video

Which more fully captures a focus on concepts:

Which more fully captures making concepts explicit and public:

Which more fully captures an emphasis on connections:

Focus on Concepts

Explicit and Public

Emphasize Connections

Focus on fractions and how to understand them visually

A

Focus on what the numerator and denominator mean in a visual representation

B

Using a visual model makes the ideas explicit and public.

A

Having students explain where the fractions were represented in the model.

B

Consistently asking students to identify where they see each number in bar models

A

Make connections from one student’s idea to another’s

B

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Watch this video →
Identify the 3 features of SOS, if they can be seen/heard.
Submit the form below

SOS Features Reflection Form

3 Features of SOS

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Finding the 3 Features of SOS in Video

Which more fully captures a focus on sense-making:

Which more fully captures students applying sustained mental effort:

Which more fully captures students engaging with important math:

Focus on Sense-making

Apply sustained mental effort

Engage with important math

The students had to decide what the numbers represent and why they would use them.

A

The students discussed the information and came up with an estimate.

B

The prompt was broad so students were forced to grapple with what to do next, but it still appeared attainable for the students.

A

The students were working really hard to try to come up with the right answer.

B

An interesting situation that is different from everyday mathematics tasks

A

The majority of students are actively involved in analyzing the situation mathematically

B

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Features of EAC and SOS in our Desmos Tasks

For reference, here are the tasks in the pre-PD slides:

(Discussion using the Desmos Teacher Dashboard)

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Modeling and Problem Solving

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Reminder: What is Modeling?

“using mathematics to represent and solve problems outside of mathematics”

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Examples of Modeling Tasks

From Module 4:

Would it be practically possible for students to fill a teacher’s classroom with balloons? Justify your answer by estimating the people, time, and cost needed to fill the room.

From Fall Teaching Study Assessments:

A cell phone plan costs $200 to start. Then there is a $50 charge each month. Sketch a graph of the cost of the plan.

Is there a proportional relationship between time and the cost of the cell phone plan? Explain how you know.

Draw a line parallel to the line you graphed that goes through the point (0,350). Suppose that this line represents the pricing plan for another company.

What is the start-up fee and monthly cost for this plan?

(like this, but filling the WHOLE room)

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Reminder: What is Problem Solving?

“confronting a situation that does not have a ready answer”

(Schoenfeld, 2011)

Depends especially on our:

current knowledge
problem-solving strategies
beliefs and practices
self-control, monitoring and regulation (i.e. metacognition)

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Example Problem Solving Tasks

From Module 4:

Using just pencil and paper, graph all the points (x,y) that make the following equation true.

|x+y|+|x-y|=4

Good problem solving tasks are accessible, challenging, and interesting to students.

They foster choice and decision-making in how to begin and move through a problem.

From Fall Teaching Study Assessments:

Joey is in science class and his group is given 8 packages of seeds. They dumped them on the table and found there were 76 seeds. Pumpkin seeds come in packages of 12 and sunflower seeds come in packages of 8.

Write two equations to represent the 1) total number of seed packages and 2) the total number of seeds.

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Adjusting Tasks for Modeling & Problem Solving

Mathematical Modeling

Problem Solving

Consider changing the:

math concepts used
properties kept the same vs. allowed to change
“real-life” context that’s addressed
relevance / importance of results

Consider changing the:

number of ways to get “right” answers
given information / context
level of interest for your students
level of cognitive demand for your students

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Ramey’s Fire Pit

What mathematical questions do these pictures inspire?

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Breakout Groups

With 4-5 people, you will:

Read and sort different tasks that are inspired by Ramey’s fire pit based on the “amount” of modeling and problem solving apparent in the task
Create at least one task of your own
Discuss ideas and wonderings surrounding modeling, problem solving, and / or the features of EAC and SOS

GO TO

BREAKOUT ROOM

NOTE-CATCHER

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Takeaways for Middle School Modeling

-standards

-adjusting the dials examples

Mathematical Modeling

Consider changing the:

math concepts used
properties kept the same vs. allowed to vary
amount of “real-life” context that’s addressed
relevance / importance of results

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Takeaways for Middle School Problem Solving

-standards

-dials

Problem Solving

Consider changing the:

number of ways to solve / “right” answers
given information / context
relevance / level of interest
level of cognitive demand

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Fall Teaching Study Results

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ROOT Fall Teaching Studies (n = 81)

Construct: EAC = 43, SOS = 33, BOTH = 5
Strategies: EAC1 = 31, SOS4 = 12, SOS2 = 11, EAC3 =9, ...
Course: M8 = 23, M7 = 17, M6 = 23, Comp7/8=5, …
Format: Hybrid = 45, Remote = 17, In-person = 15

Study Results

# Students: M = 52.7, SD = 30.6, Range = 9 to 118
Instruction: M = 8.0 days, SD = 3.1, Range = 4 to 16
Pre-Post Gain: M = 27.7%, SD = 16.6, Range = -1 to 69
Normalized Gain: M = 35.6%, SD = 23.0, Range = -26 to 84

Fall Study Types

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There was much variability in students’ pre- and post-test scores, with a generally positive association.

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Averages for the students in each teaching study followed a similar pattern as the overall student data.

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Overall, students in studies of SOS strategies tended to show higher pre-post gains than students in EAC studies.

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COMING SOON!

Personalized reports on your Fall Teaching Study.

“More promising” study results were common in EAC 1 & SOS 4, followed by �SOS 2, EAC 3, & SOS 1

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Upcoming ROOT Activities

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Big Picture

ROOT is a 3-year project to investigate effective teaching methods in grades 6-8 math, with a focus on modeling and problem solving.
We have an EAC/SOS Guide outlining a framework of strategies with robust research evidence for improving student math achievement.
In 2019-20, we learned about EAC and SOS, trying some ideas in our classrooms. See website for resources.
During 2020-21, our goal is to build a set of “promising strategies” that seem to work well in our teaching settings.

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Upcoming Goals

Phase 2: Collaborate to design and develop well-articulated effective instructional practices for improving grades 6-8 students’ modeling and problem solving abilities.

Phase 3: Collaborate to compare sequences of effective instructional practices for improving grades 6-8 students’ modeling and problem solving abilities.

ROOT aims to show others what works in our context.

2021-2022

Phase 3

2020-2021

Phase 2

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ROOT 2020-2021 Research Questions

What do effective EAC and SOS strategies look like in our context?

Which EAC and SOS strategies seem most promising for supporting students’ modeling and problem solving achievement?

1

2

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2020-21 ROOT Activities

Online Module 4 (due November 1)
Online Module 5 ($375 stipend)
Fall Teaching Study (due January 31, $625 stipend, 1 paid PD credit)

2-3 weeks, implemented with support from your RMS

Online Module 6 (February, $375 stipend)

Pre-PD assignments and attendance in live meeting

Spring Teaching Study (Spring, $625 stipend, 1 paid PD credit)

6-8 weeks

Summer Institute (June 21-24 SAVE THE DATES!, $750 stipend, 3 paid PD credits)

Decide on “promising” strategies, plan for 2021-22 activities

Questions? Email our project manager, Michelle Pancoast, at root-rmc@boisestate.edu

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Reminder: Video Collection & Informed Consent

The purpose of “ROOT videos” (3 per year) is to summarize “effective instruction.”
Students are basically bystanders, with low risks (primarily identification).
We ask teachers to seek consent from parents before recording video. We save the consent responses, and record that the teacher sought consent.
We ask teachers to try to keep students without consent out of the video.
We make copies of your videos to be analyzed by a small group of researchers. We will blur students’ faces and seek your permission before showing video to anyone else.
If you want to use videos of your teaching for other purposes (e.g., with colleagues, for master educator premium), that’s outside ROOT, so follow your school/district rules.

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Evaluation

Look for an email soon with a 5-question survey from Steuck & Associates, our external evaluator.

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Spring Teaching Studies Planning

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Spring Teaching Studies ($650 stipend, due Apr 30th)

We are conducting Crossover Studies this spring

All teachers will follow a very similar timeline for this study
Nearly equal amounts of teachers will implement each EAC and SOS strategy

SLIDES FOR

BREAKOUT GROUPS

Choose the Breakout Group with your RMS (Ramey - 1, Lindsey - 2, or Emily - 3) to start planning your Spring Teaching Study.

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