The Importance of Lesson Study

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The Importance of Lesson Study
Makoto Yoshida, Ph.D. Global Education Resources

• Makoto Yoshida, Ph.D.
• Global Education Resources
• (www.globaledresources.com)

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Why Lesson Study?
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International Study on Mathematics Teaching and
Learning

• Study of Students Achievement
• 1st study (1960s), 2nd study (1980s)
• U.S. students performed quite poorly compared
  with their peers in most Asian and many European
  countries. (The Teaching Gap)
• 3rd study (1990s) -- TIMSS
• in eighth-grade mathematics, twenty of the
  forty-one nations scored significantly higher, on
  average, than the U.S. Nations scoring
  significantly higher than the U.S. include
  Singapore, Korea, Japan, Canada, France,
  Australia, Hungary, and Ireland. (The Teaching
  Gap)
• Study of Classroom Teaching
• TIMSS Video Study (1990s)

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TIMSS Video Study

• TIMSS Video Study
• Examine similarities and differences in the
  instructional methods that lay behind the
  students achievement scores
• 231 eighth-grade mathematics lessons are
  videotaped
• 81 in the US
• 100 in Germany
• 50 in Japan

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The Teaching Gap (Stigler Hiebert, 1999)

• Percentage of lessons rated as having low,
  medium, and high quality of mathematical contents

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The Teaching Gap (Stigler Hiebert, 1999)

• Average percentage of topic in eighth-grade
  mathematics lessons that contained concepts that
  were Developed or Stated

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The Teaching Gap (Stigler Hiebert, 1999)

• Percentage of lessons that included
  student-presented alternative solution methods

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The Teaching Gap (Stigler Hiebert, 1999)

• Average percentage of seatwork time spent in
  three kinds of tasks.

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Structured Problem SolvingA Type of Student
Centered Instruction

• In Japan, teachers appear to take a less active
  role, allowing their students to invent their own
  procedures for solving problems. And these
  problems are quite demanding, both procedurally
  and conceptually. Teachers, however, carefully
  design and orchestrate lessons so that students
  are likely to use procedures that have been
  developed recently in class. (Sigler Hiebert,
  1999, p.27)
• When we watched a Japanese lesson, for example
  we noticed that the teacher presents a problem to
  the students without first demonstrating how to
  solve the problem. We realized that U.S.
  teachers almost never do this. The (U.S.)
  teacher almost always demonstrates a procedure
  for solving problems before assigned them to
  students. (Stigler Hiebert, 1999, p.77)

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Improving Classroom Teaching in the U.S.

• Teachers are essentially teaching the same way
  they were taught in school, because most teachers
  in the U.S. have not studied to be a teacher and
  they teach students with their mental pictures of
  what teaching is like, which they have acquired
  as students (Stigler Hiebert, 1999)
• Stigler and Hiebert argue that Japanese
  mathematics lessons better exemplify current U.S.
  reform ideas than do typical U.S. mathematics
  lessons (1999)
• It is clear that we need a research-and-developme
  nt system for the steady, continuous improvement
  of teaching such a system does not exist today.
  --- by looking at the Japanese lesson study
  system (Stigler Hiebert, 1999)

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Problem Solving Approach of Teaching

• A typical structure of a Japanese mathematics
  lesson described by Stigler and Heibert (1999) is
  based on the U.S. educators ideas.
• Polya (1945), How to Solve It A New Aspect of
  Mathematics Method
• Charles Lester (1982), Teaching Problem
  Solving What Why How
• This idea was announced by NCTM
• problem solving must be the focus of school
  mathematics NCTM (1980)
• Incorporated in to 1989 NCTM Standards

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How to Solve It A New Aspect of Mathematics
Method Polya (1945) Princeton University Press

• Problem-Solving Guide
• Understanding the Problem
• Devising a Plan
• Carrying Out the Plan
• Looking Back

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Teaching Problem Solving What Why How Charles
Lester (1982) Dale Seymour Publications
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Problem-Solving Guide

• Understanding the Problem
• Read the problem
• Decide what you are trying to find
• Find the important date
• Solving the Problem
• Look for a pattern
• Guess and check
• Write number sentences
• Use logical reasoning
• Work backwards
• Draw a picture
• Make an organized list
• Make a table
• Use objects or act out
• Simplify the problem

• Answering the Problem and Evaluating the Answer
• Be sure you used all the important information
• Check your work
• Decide whether the answer makes sense
• Write the answer in a complete sentence

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Mathematical Proficiency

• Conceptual Understanding
• Comprehension of mathematical concepts,
  operations, and relations
• Procedural Fluency
• Skills in carrying out procedures
• Strategic Competence
• Ability to formulate, represent, and solve
  mathematical problems
• Adaptive Reasoning
• Capacity for logical thought, reflection,
  explanation, and justification
• Productive Disposition
• Habitual inclination to see mathematics as
  sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a
  belief in diligence and ones own efficacy
• Adding It Up (National Research Council, 2001)

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Lewis, C. and I. Tsuchida (1998) "A Lesson is
Like a Swiftly Flowing River Research Lessons
and the Improvement of Japanese Education."
American Educator (Winter) 14-17, 50-52
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Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics Ma
(1999) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers
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Lesson Study A Handbook of Teacher-Led
Instructional Change Lewis (2002) Research for
Better Schools (RBS)
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Ideas for Establishing Lesson Study
Communities Takahashi Yoshida Teaching
Children Mathematics (2004) National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
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Lesson Study A Japanese Approach to Improving
Mathematics Teaching and Learning Fernandez
Yoshida (2004) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
Publishers
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Building Our Understanding of Lesson
Study Wang-Iverson Yoshida (2005) Research for
Better Schools (RBS) www.rbs.org
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Paterson, NJ (1/2005)
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2004 data from LSRG _at_ Teachers College, Columbia
University
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What is Lesson Study?
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Working on a Research Lesson
Lesson Study Cycle
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Lesson Study Cycle
Develop a lesson plan
Revise lesson plan and examine in own classroom
Reexamine lesson in own classroom using the
lesson plan
Revise the lesson plan
New Ideas for Teaching and Learning
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Lesson Study Types
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Lesson Study Goal

• School Goal
• Creating a community of responsible learners
• Question
• What kind of students do we have?
• What kind of students do we want to develop?
• How do we get there?
• Lesson study goal
• Fostering student problem-solving and
  responsibility for learning
• (Paterson Public School No. 2, 1999)

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Relationship of Various Goals
(Paterson Public School No. 2)
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Changes in Lesson Study Goals

• School Goal Creating a community of responsible
  learners
• Lesson Study Goal
• Fostering student problem-solving and
  responsibility for learning (1999-2000)
  (2000-2001)
• Problem Solving, Student Engagement
• To encourage, record, and share student thinking
  through mathematics (2001-2002) (2002-2003)
  (2003-2004)
• Note Taking, Blackboard Organization, Student
  Presentation
• Maximizing learning for every student (2004-2005)
• (Paterson Public School No. 2)

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Instructional Material Investigation
(Kyozaikenkyu)

• Studying
• Subject content and the scope and sequence
  (standards, textbooks, teachers manuals, etc.)
• Instructional tools and manipulatives
• Student learning (state of learning, process of
  thinking understanding, misunderstanding)
• Establishing
• Clear understanding of the goals and outcomes
• Developing
• Instruction, instructional materials, learning
  activities, and manipulatives to help students to
  achieve the goals

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(No Transcript)
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Schedule of Meetings in a Cycle
(Paterson Public School No. 2)
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Yearly Lesson Study Calendar
(Paterson Public School No. 2)
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Reflecting on the Lesson Study Process

• Reflect on and discuss the Lesson Study process
  at the end of year.
• Produce a report
• Develop a plan for the next year

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Research Report Booklet
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George Washington School Mahwah, NJ
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Publications by Teachers
Education Book Section at Large Bookstores in
Japan
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What Does Lesson Study Provide?
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Classroom Based Research on Learning and Teaching

• During lesson study, teachers investigate
  instructional materials and lesson goals by
  examining students thinking, understanding, and
  learning
• This process generates ideas for improving
  instructional materials, student learning, and
  teaching

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Focused, Coherent, and Consistent Education for
All Students

• Collaborative nature of lesson study offers the
  promise of a focused, coherent, and consistent
  education for all students
• Lesson study helps to develop a shared
  understanding of
• Curriculum aligned with standards
• Instruction
• Goal of education
• Students

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Developing Life-Long Learners

• Lesson study is professional learning, not lesson
  development
• Provides opportunities for teachers to think
  deeply about instruction, learning, curriculum,
  education
• Develop the steady, continuous improvement of
  teaching
• Teachers become
• Life-long learners
• Independent thinkers
• Problem solvers
• Researchers

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Essentials for Lesson Study

• Well planed research lesson plan with clear
  hypothesis
• At least more than a month for planning
• Live research lesson observation with various
  participants (fresh eyes)
• With understanding of the goal of lesson study
• Focused post-research-lesson discussion based on
  participants observation

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• Global Education Resources
• www.globaledresources.com
• GER, based in New Jersey, is a leading Lesson
  Study consulting firm that works with schools and
  districts across the United States to implement
  and improve Lesson Study. In addition, GER
  supports improving elementary and middle school
  mathematics classroom instruction and learning by
  developing materials and providing workshops and
  consulting services to teachers, schools, and
  districts.