Fostering expansive noticing practices through video-based professional development in college mathematics

Abstract Marginalized groups remain underrepresented in college mathematics majors and experience lower outcomes and persistence, highlighting the need for equity-focused professional development (PD). Recent work on teacher noticing identifies competencies of equitable teachers, informing PD design centered on noticing for equity. This study presents a video-based PD, developed by mathematics and education scholars, for college instructional teams. The PD addresses both student thinking and equity-focused noticing, encouraging participants to examine their beliefs and visions of equitable instruction. Ten mathematics faculty and student assistants participated in the study. Through a pre/post-test design, findings demonstrate that PD can be designed to integrate attention to both student mathematical thinking and participation, fostering expansive noticing practices that include students’ historical selves and imagined futures. They also suggest that video-based noticing activities can support the development of beliefs and vision of high-quality mathematics instruction. A study byproduct is a framework to document multidimensional noticing that captures dimensions such as student agency, shared authority, and the socio-emotional and relational aspects of learning.