The Mathematics of Doing, Understanding, Learning and Educating for Secondary Schools (MODULE(S2)) project creates and supports the use of undergraduate mathematics course materials that provide opportunities for users to develop deep mathematical knowledge of geometry, statistics, algebra, and modeling, specifically as it relates to doing the work of teaching.
MODULE(S2) materials have been used by 60+ faculty at 50+ universities in the US and Canada who have taught 1000+ prospective teachers and university students in university mathematics courses.
The project promotes effective instruction through asynchronous professional development activities on a faculty community Canvas site.
MODULE(S2) investigates the impact of instruction with the materials on prospective teachers’ knowledge–thereby informing research efforts in teacher education.
The MODULE(S2) project began through the work of the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTE-P), which seeks to create a gold standard for the preparation of secondary mathematics teachers across its over 90 member universities.
Rationale and Research: Evidence has mounted in recent decades that to implement sound mathematics and statistics instruction, teachers must possess understandings of content that are specifically applied in the work of teaching (mathematical knowledge for teaching – MKT*). To develop MKT, prospective teachers need opportunities to use mathematical knowledge to recognize, respond to, and understand mathematical issues that arise in the context of teaching. Findings from plan-do-study-act cycles in the project indicate an increase in prospective secondary teachers’ MKT when they learn with MODULE(S2) materials. MODULE(S2) is now expanding research efforts to examine the conditions of instruction that impact prospective teachers’ MKT, development of MKT, and expectancy and value in using MKT as a resource for teaching. The project uses mixed methods to provide empirically-based accounts of how factors of quality of instruction and of instructional resources impact prospective teachers’ MKT.
* Note on terminology: We acknowledge that statistics and mathematics education are disciplines with both overlapping and distinct components. For simplicity of language in this paragraph, we use mathematical knowledge for teaching and MKT in the very broad sense to include both mathematical and statistical knowledge for teaching (SKT).
MODULE(S2) Project 