Animations as a Transformational Approximation of Practice for Preservice Teachers to Communicate Professional Noticing

Source: Journal of Technology and Teacher Education Volume 24, Number 2, April 2016

This article explores the use of animations as an approximation of practice to provide a transformational technology experience for elementary mathematics preservice teachers.
The participants were 126 preservice teachers in mathematics methods courses at six universities engaged in a practice of decomposing and approximating components of a fraction lesson. Data analysis focused on the extent to which preservice teachers were specific or general with respect to mathematics in written and animated accounts of noticing.

Findings illuminate preservice teachers’ degrees of specificity, with most preservice teachers being more specific about mathematics in their animations, showing promise for animation as a tool for communicating what is noticed. Further, preservice teachers perceived the use of animations a transformational experience, meaning the technological medium provided learning and access beyond what could have been accomplished without the technological support.