Roar Bakken Stovner

• Martin, Christie; Radišić, Jelena; Stovner, Roar Bakken; Blikstad-Balas, Marte & Klette, Kirsti (2019). Exploring the use of mathematics observation tools across contexts - How do these tools shape our understanding of instructional quality when applied in different school settings?. Show summary

  Teaching observation instruments based on research of effective mathematics instruction are increasingly used for teacher evaluations and forms the basis of teacher preparation programs, professional development programs, and student assessments. Because observation instruments now travel across sites, we need research on the cross-cultural validity of these instruments to know how the instruments can be used in other cultures. This study investigates how three mathematics teaching observation instruments from the USA portray the teaching of an algebra lesson in lower secondary school taught by three locally recognized expert teachers from Norway, Finland and the USA respectively. The instruments used were the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), Mathematics Quality of Instruction (MQI) and the Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP2). The researchers chose these three instruments based on validity tests and their wide use. The total of three lessons, three researchers’ ratings and three instruments produced 27 observational reports. Audio-recordings of the researchers’ discussions about the rating of the lessons were also made. The data from using the observation instruments, documented conversations, and item level analysis were used to explore how these tools are interpreted, what qualities of teaching the instruments measure across contexts, and what qualities of teaching that were not measured. The three tools were created in the United States and reflect the reforms, standards, and objectives specific to that context. Results from this study indicate the applicability of current instruments to other contexts and shed light on how the instruments construe instructional quality in mathematics.

• Stovner, Roar Bakken (2019). Conceptual and Procedural Feedback across 164 Norwegian Mathematics Lessons.
• Stovner, Roar Bakken & Nortvedt, Guri A. (2019). Using video data to research teachers’ feedback practices – a matched comparison approach. Show summary

  Many teaching practices of high research interest occur rarely during normal teaching, such as practices associated with conceptual understanding and higher-order skills in mathematics. Because such practices are scarce, they are hard to study during naturally occurring instruction. This presentation reports on an attempt at analyzing a rarely occurring teaching practice by carefully sampling videos from a large-scale video study. The videos were sampled by using ratings from a standardized observation instrument as sampling criteria. The practice investigated was “responding conceptually to student thinking”. We sampled both teachers proficient in the practice, and comparison teachers. We used this matched comparison sample to find distinguishing features of instruction in classrooms where teachers responding conceptually to student thinking. Results show that teachers responded conceptually when “moments of confusion” arose while working on cognitively demanding tasks; comparison teachers also included demanding tasks in their teaching, but they handled “moments of confusion” differently. We suggest that rarely occurring teaching practices can fruitfully be researched by sampling from existing video-studies using standardized observation instruments. Adding comparison teachers to the analysis allowed cleaner identification of what distinguishes teachers that are adept at the rarely occurring practice. However, this approach demands other (stronger?) reliability and validity assertions than the observation instruments were designed for.

• Stovner, Roar Bakken (2018). Do Mathematics-Specific and General Observation Instruments Capture Different Aspects of Instruction?. Show summary

  Subject-specific and subject-generic teaching observation instruments are important steps towards a common language for teaching across subjects. Previous research shows overlap between generic and subject-specific instruments, but it is unclear which teaching practices are rated similarly and differently. We compare how providing feedback during lessons and providing appropriate cognitive challenge are operationalized by one generic and one mathematics-specific teaching observation instrument and find similarities, but also crucial differences. When rating 32 Norwegian mathematics teachers’ instruction, three teachers’ instruction received significantly different ratings, providing examples where the manuals do not share a common language of instruction. Such precise knowledge of how mathematics-specific and general observation instruments differ helps researchers, teacher professional developers, and teacher evaluators to interpret results from observation instruments.

• Stovner, Roar Bakken (2018). Får elevene gruble nok? Dilemmaer ved å gi støtte i matematikktimene.
• Stovner, Roar Bakken; Nortvedt, Guri A.; Buchholtz, Nils & Luoto, Jennifer Maria (2018). Symposium of Researching the Quality of Mathematics Teaching.
• Stovner, Roar Bakken (2017). How Do Norwegian Mathematics Teachers Provide Feedback During Their Lessons in Lower Secondary Schools?.

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