Course: The Development of Mathematical Thinking

Department: Human Development, Teachers College
Instructor: Sarantoula Sandra Pappas Schattman

Background

Professor Pappas Schattman uses Mediathread throughout her course on early childhood mathematics education, a course that focuses on theories of developmental psychology as well as teaching and assessment practices derived from research.

A series of assignments integrating readings with video footage prepares students to discuss and debate interpretations of learning behavior.

Implementation

For the first ten weeks of the course, students are required to post short essays about clinical interviewing techniques. They also post a weekly reflection on what they learned during in-class instruction. The final project for the course is a comprehensive essay in Mediathread.

For this project, students first videotape themselves teaching and interviewing a child to assess the child's mathematical skills development.

Then, in Mediathread, students write an analysis of their interaction with the child, using video to provide supporting evidence of class concepts.

Professor Pappas Schattman then assesses her students' mastery of theory, teaching and interviewing skills, and interpretation of the video.