Classroom Innovations through Lesson Study
From APEC HRDWG Wiki
Classroom Innovations Through Lesson Study is an APEC Education Network (EDNET) Project that aims to improve the quality of education in the area of Mathematics. The project is sponsored by APEC members Japan and Thailand (to access the Project website, click here). The APEC-Tsukuba International Conference III was broadcast live from Tokyo on December 9-10, 2007. The project has produced useful papers describing lesson study, mathematical thinking and videos of classroom instruction.
This Project has developed a collaborative network of Lesson Study experts among member economies. Key products include lesson plans and videos from APEC members, including many economies whose students score highest on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Masami Isoda, and, Shizumi Shimizu,(University of Tsukuba, Japan and scoring educational systems on TIMSS international assessments. Masami ISODA & Shizumi SHIMIZU (University of Tsukuba, Japan) and Maitree Inprasitha and Suladda Loipha (Kohn Kaen University, Thailand) are Project Overseers. Akihiko Takahashi (DePaul University, U.S.) directs the Lesson Study Wiki Pilot Project Taskforce.
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Lesson Study Overview
Lesson Study began in Japan in the 19th century. Its purpose was to enable Japanese teachers, who had traditionally used individualized instruction, to learn group instruction skills from their peers in Western countries. Lesson Study follows a continuous improvement process in teaching a topic. It is not limited to mathematics, The process, generally comprises the following steps:
1) Defining a teaching problem based upon student needs
2) Lesson Study planning, with the student and the teacher as the focus
3) Focusing the lesson on student thinking,learning, and misunderstanding
4) Evaluating the lesson's impact on student learning and reflecting on its effect
5) Revising the lesson based upon the data collected
6) Teaching the revised lesson to a new class of students
7) Evaluating and reflecting
8) Sharing the results. (see our Glossary of Lesson Study Terms).
Learning from Lessons and Lesson Study Videos
Lesson Study videos available on this Wiki site include:
This 50-minute research lesson was presented at Sapporo City Maruyama Elementary School to a class of 40 students. It is the fourth in a series of 13 lessons. The preceding lesson considered the product "20 times 3," and the students were encouraged to calculate the number of black circles in the array.
This research lesson was presented at Sapporo City Hokuto Elementary School to a class of 27 students. It focuses on finding the value of two quantities that satisfy two conditions.
This research lesson was presented at the University of Tsukuba Elementary School in Tokyo. Its purpose is to strengthen students' academic ability through relishing the joy of thinking. The teacher challenges students to use, multiple approaches to calculate, the area of a circle.
This research lesson was taught by Yutaka Hase. The double-period lesson was presented at Shinjuku-Kuritsu Ichigaya Elementary School to a class of 40 students. It is the third in a sequence of three lessons. The focus is helping students understand that whole numbers can be categorized into several sets through the instruction of even and odd numbers. To expand the topic, the lesson planning group decided to include categorization of whole numbers by paying attention to remainders of division.
This Grade 6 research lesson was taught at Takehaya Elementary School Attached to Tokyo Gakugei University. It was a part of the school based lesson study. The lesson was taught by Mr. Takeshi Yamada to a class of 41 students. The lesson was a part of the unit focusing on multiplying and dividing by fractions, i.e., fractions as the multiplier or the divisor. Students have previously studied multiplication and division of decimal numbers as well as multiplying and dividing fractions by whole numbers and multiplying fractions by fractions. The lesson is an introductory lesson on dividing by a fraction.
This Grade 5 lesson was taught at Takehaya Elementary School Attached to Tokyo Gakugei University. Mr. Masahiro Seki taught this lesson to a class of 39 students. The lesson centers around the problem, "2 meters of wire weighs 24.8 grams. If you have 6 meters of the same wire, how much will it weigh?"
- "Prime and Composite Numbers" Grade 4 (Japan) coming soon
This research lesson was presented at the University of Tsukuba Elementary School in Tokyo. Students Study a number in relationship to other numbers, such as a product of other numbers.
- "Long Division with Remainder" Grades 3-4 (Singapore)
This research lesson was presented at the Cedar Primary School in Singapore.
(Available at mms://stream.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/criced/www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/apec/apec2006/5.Reserch_lesson_long_division_with_remainder.wmv)
- Property of The Three Medians in a Triangle" Lower-Secondary Grades (Vietnam)
This research lesson was presented at the Nguyen Tri Phuong Lower Secondary School in Vietnam
(Available at mms://stream.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/criced/www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/apec/apec2006/10.Research_lesson_on_the_property_of_the_three_medians_in_a_triangle.wmv)
This research lesson was presented at the University of Tsukuba Elementary School in Tokyo. It focuses probability.
This research lesson was presented at the University of Tsukuba Elementary School in Tokyo.
Areas of Focus
APEC's Classroom Innovations Through Lesson Study project explores the use of Lesson Study in the teaching of mathematics. Listed Below are six areas of focus associated with Lesson Study.
1) Mathematical Thinking
As teachers engage in kyozaikenkyu during Lesson Study, one of the focal points, is students' mathematical thinking. Teachers help students learned to the mastery of new topics. As teachers plan the public Lesson, they investigate how to pose problems in ways that enhance students' mathematical thinking Teachers, also analyze the impact of the numbers chosen for the main learning task and how they may influence students' mathematical thinking.
2) Problem Solving
Teaching through problem solving has become a focal point of Mathematics education reform worldwide. However, teaching through problem solving is not the same thing as simply giving students problems to solve. the goal is to help students learn mathematics,
not just to solve a problem, In fact, even if students do not fully solve, a problem they may still be learning, the target mathematics. To teach through problem solving, teachers must be able to clearly articulate what they want students to understand and help them appreciate how they can develop that understanding using what they have previously learned( potential learning trajectories).
3) Teacher’s Questioning
How teachers pose questions influences students mathematical thinking, and thus their mathematical learning. For this reason, one of the main discussion points during the lesson planning phase of Lesson Study is how to pose the main learning task to students.
Suppose, for example, that the students' task is to determine, the area of a L-shaped figure. Instead of instructing students to "Find the area of the Shape," the teacher, may say:
"Let's think about different ways we can calculate the area of this shape."
"Let's calculate the area of this shape using what we've already learned." or
"Let's think about how we can use the formula to find the area of a rectangle to find the area of this new shape."
etc.
Teachers can then observe how students responded to the question during the public lesson to evaluate the usefulness and appropriateness of the question posed.
4) Board Writing
Board writing is an important consideration for Japanese mathematics teachers. The results from the TIMSS video study showed that there are significant differences in the way in which board writing is used in Japan and is the United States. In Japan, board writing serves multiple purposes; for example, it provides space to display students' ideas, to summarize important ideas, or to provide an example of notebook writing.
5) Note Taking
Note taking is an important skill. It can not only provide a record of what happened in a lesson but also enable students to learn about learning. For these reasons, teachers need to know how to help students learn to take good notes.
6) Facilitating a Whole-Class Discussion
The whole class discussion phase of a lesson is the most critical time in a structured problem solving lesson. It is during this time, that students analyze, compare and contrast ideas. This collaborative reflection raise the level of mathematical discourse and enables students to develop new mathematical understanding. However, a good whole-class discussion does not happen automatically. Teachers must plan how they will orchestrate the discussion. Anticipating students' possible strategies for solving a problem is an important tool in the teacher's planning process, Teachers should think about the sequence in which they will present ideas and what strategies they should emphasize.
Resources
Lesson Study Resources
- Lesson Study Websites
Lesson Study Group at Mills College: This group's website includes their research and resources including multimedia, lesson plans, and workshop handouts.
Chicago Lesson Study Group: Chicago Lesson Study Group was launched in October of 2002, with volunteer school administrators and classroom teachers from Chicago Area.
Lesson Study Communities Project in Secondary Mathematics: Information and schedules is available on this website for the Wareham Massachusetts School District lesson study projects facilitated by Education Development Center, Inc.
Global Education Resources: GER is an organization that provides workshops and consulting services to improve mathematics education. Utilize resources, purchase products, or register for upcoming Lesson Study conferences.
See also
Mathematics Education
Mathematics Standards
Mathematics Assessments
