Influence of Professional Materials on the Decision-Making of Preservice Secondary Teachers When Noticing Students’ Mathematical Thinking

This research aims to investigate the impact of professional materials’ interpretation on the decision-making of preservice secondary teachers when analyzing the mathematical thinking of a 15–16-year-old high school student engaged in arithmetic problem-solving. Our conceptual framework considers the model of curricular noticing and the specific model of noticing students’ mathematical thinking, establishing connections between both. The participants were 20 preservice teachers taking part in a training program in two Spanish universities. They were grouped randomly into five groups. The data were preservice secondary teachers’ written responses to a professional task of noticing students’ mathematical thinking by solving two arithmetic problems. A qualitative analysis was carried out considering the skills that make up the theoretical models considered. Findings show that the various interpretations made by the preservice secondary teachers of the professional materials gave rise to different interpretations of the secondary school student’s error and this led them to propose different instructional responses. There were two groups focused on a relational interpretation and three focused on a procedural interpretation (and response). We conclude that the way in which secondary school student teachers begin to make sense of professional materials is influenced by their experiences, background, and beliefs about mathematics teaching.