2024 RPC Conference - Yuhang

PhD student Ms WU Yuhang presented at the Research Postgraduate Conference orgainsed by the Faculty of Education at the Univeristy of Hong Kong. Her title of presentation is From Teacher-Centred to Student-centred Instruction: A Multimodal Conversation Analysis of Teacher-Student Interactions Around a Mathematical Task.

Abstract:

Student-centred instruction has attracted global attention in bringing about changes in the context of mathematics education reforms. This pedagogical approach challenges traditional teacher-centred methods by emphasising the pivotal role of students in their own learning process, with teachers playing a facilitative role in leveraging student thinking in instructional practice. However, the practical implementation of student-centred instruction still remains elusive and challenging for mathematics teachers. This study examined how a secondary mathematics teacher leveraged multimodal resources to support student learning around a mathematical task during a one-on-one teaching experiment. Data was collected through video recordings of the teaching and reflection sessions and the artifacts during the teaching experiment. Multimodal Conversation Analysis (MCA) served as the analytical tool for analysing teacher-student interaction data during the experiment, triangulated through the integration of a video-stimulated-recall interview utilising Interpretative Phenomenology Analysis (IPA). The findings demonstrated a transformative journey in which the teacher shifted from self-centred to student-centred instruction. The teacher initially employed guided moves that yielded limited effectiveness in fostering student thinking. Then she progressively showed a tendency of interpreting and inferring the student’s cognitive processes based on observable clues. The enhanced perception of student thinking enabled the teacher to employ strategic moves in supporting the student’s learning trajectory, and therefore contributes to effectively facilitating the student’s mathematics learning through intrapersonal self-construction.