Mid- to late- Winter ’13LAs view student thinking as:• Instrumentally valuable• Morally valuable• Intellectually valuable* – sensible

& productive starting place for instruction

*See Robertson’s poster for more info

Development of Novice Teachers’ Views of Student Ideas as Sensible and ProductiveClarissa E. Lovegren and Amy D. Robertson

Seattle Pacific University (SPU) Learning Assistants (LAs) expand their views of student thinking as sensible and productive. We propose that articulating teaching values, searching for kernels of correctness, and intentionally developing curricular knowledge foster these views.

Fall ‘12 to early Winter ’13LAs view student thinking as:• Instrumentally valuable – useful

for teaching & learning goals • Morally valuable – significant to

student’s personhood

SPU Learning Assistant Experience

Methodology1. Reviewed LAs’ reflections that

intellectually value student ideas2. Looked for connections between

LAs’ values and aspects of the LA program

3. Analyzed how and why plausible mechanisms fostered shift

Significance of Research1. Promotes LAs’ careful consideration of

what student reasoning has to offer: Intrinsic sensibility Productivity

2. Shows what it looks like to act on views of student thinking as sensible & productive

3. Suggests how such views might be developed elsewhere

LAs articulate teaching values- Winter ‘13, LAs debate: okay to

leave students with wrong answer?- LA David says:“[M]y interaction [Fall] quarter was mainly me talking, asking leading questions and

trying to direct student thinking in the way that I wanted it to go. How close minded of me! Those unique student ideas, even when incorrect, can provide so much insight, and

usually offer a strong starting point on which to instruct that particular material…

In our class discussions, we have talked about the...idea that student reasoning and

understanding can be held in the highest priority, while simultaneously ensuring that

the students walk away with correct answers.”

LAs developcurricular knowledge - Fall ‘12-Winter ‘13, LAs

pedagogically dissect Tutorials- Look for ways Tutorials:

• Address common student difficulties

• Build models- LA Sarah explains:

“Understanding the instructional strategies used by the tutorial has definitely [a]ffected my teaching

because now I am less focused on the students knowing the exact answer

because I feel it is more important for them to understand their thinking.”

Pedagogy

Content PreparationPractice

Articulating Teaching Values

Searching for Kernels of Correctness

Developing Curricular Knowledge

Mechanisms that Fostered the Shift

SPU LAs Novice Teachers

LAs search for “kernels of correctness”- LA course instructor challenges LAs to

‘try on’ student ideas- LA Jess writes:"…In one part of the tutorial it asks the students

to compare tensions in 2 springs of different linear mass densities…one student[…]said that

Spring 1 had a greater tension because the wave speed was faster and that’s what we saw in the first page. She also said that the spring

just seemed tenser…This is true in the sense of how people feel tension…but this didn’t

necessarily fall in line with the physics definition of tension…In this situation I really understood

where she went wrong and just how it was easy to believe what she believed. I believe I learned how to analyze how students argue the[ir] point

and find the kernel of truth in it and make it flourish from that."

Participates in class discussion

Views of student ideas changed

“Strong starting point on which to instruct”

Seeks out “kernels”

Analyzes and understands student idea

“Believable” idea that can “flourish”

Expands curricular knowledge

Alters teaching focus

“Understand their thinking” valued over the

exact answer

Value of “Intellectually Valuing”

“Intellectually Valuing”

Promotes conceptual

learning

Treats students as capable &

intelligentAligns with

constructivism