Tasks are ubiquitous in the mathematics classroom. They are the stages in which mathematics teaching and learning play out. It should be no surprise, then, that task design is a rich and diverse field of inquiry in mathematics education. This includes work focused on critical skills for teaching mathematics effectively, including the capabilities to evaluate, select, sequence, and create tasks appropriate to different objectives, students, and contexts, among other variables. Developing these capabilities arguably begins in teacher education programs, which requires research specifically focused on task design in pre-service mathematics teacher education.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together research focused on task design in the context of pre-service mathematics teacher education. This is research that reports on pre-service teachers engaged in evaluating, selecting, modifying, sequencing, and developing tasks to engage learners in K to 12 contexts. Task design in pre-service teacher education is a distinct subset of the broader task design literature. One significant reason for this is that individuals in such programs must attend to a host of other aspects of their emerging pedagogical practice, including forming teacher identity and agency, a growing awareness of diverse learners and learning contexts, and other factors. The aim is to bring together a diverse body of research, reflecting a plurality of theoretical and methodological commitments, contexts, and mathematical topics.
Potential areas of research should reflect the varied nature of pre-service teacher education. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, task design with pre-service mathematics teachers in the context of:
• Evaluating textbook tasks
• Selecting tasks according to pre-stated criteria or learning outcomes
• Modifying tasks for different learning contexts
• Sequencing tasks (e.g., using variation theory)
• Developing tasks (e.g., creating modeling tasks to use mathematics in real-world contexts)
• Task design in makerspaces and/or STEAM contexts
• The role and use of digital tools
• Using problem-posing to develop capabilities for task design
Keywords:
Tasks, Task design, Pre-service Teacher Education, Mathematics Education
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Tasks are ubiquitous in the mathematics classroom. They are the stages in which mathematics teaching and learning play out. It should be no surprise, then, that task design is a rich and diverse field of inquiry in mathematics education. This includes work focused on critical skills for teaching mathematics effectively, including the capabilities to evaluate, select, sequence, and create tasks appropriate to different objectives, students, and contexts, among other variables. Developing these capabilities arguably begins in teacher education programs, which requires research specifically focused on task design in pre-service mathematics teacher education.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together research focused on task design in the context of pre-service mathematics teacher education. This is research that reports on pre-service teachers engaged in evaluating, selecting, modifying, sequencing, and developing tasks to engage learners in K to 12 contexts. Task design in pre-service teacher education is a distinct subset of the broader task design literature. One significant reason for this is that individuals in such programs must attend to a host of other aspects of their emerging pedagogical practice, including forming teacher identity and agency, a growing awareness of diverse learners and learning contexts, and other factors. The aim is to bring together a diverse body of research, reflecting a plurality of theoretical and methodological commitments, contexts, and mathematical topics.
Potential areas of research should reflect the varied nature of pre-service teacher education. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, task design with pre-service mathematics teachers in the context of:
• Evaluating textbook tasks
• Selecting tasks according to pre-stated criteria or learning outcomes
• Modifying tasks for different learning contexts
• Sequencing tasks (e.g., using variation theory)
• Developing tasks (e.g., creating modeling tasks to use mathematics in real-world contexts)
• Task design in makerspaces and/or STEAM contexts
• The role and use of digital tools
• Using problem-posing to develop capabilities for task design
Keywords:
Tasks, Task design, Pre-service Teacher Education, Mathematics Education
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.