Hi. Please expand a little on the Improv technique, perhaps with a specific example. Can you describe the link between the technique and argumentation; that is just how does the activity help teachers to facilitate argumentation ideas in their classrooms?

To help students develop a new view of mathematics as well as learn to engage in argumentation improvisationally, we promote the use of warm up games that are based on improv games. These are the same games that improv actors use to learn their craft. Warm up games have simple rules of interaction to follow that foster spontaneity and strong collaboration among participants. They also encourage playfulness, which leads to the joy in argumentation. The games can be used at the beginning of selected class periods to introduce productive norms for argumentation. We have found that introducing the norms in the sometimes non-mathematical context of games can be important for students who may have never before participated in group discussions about the truth of mathematics.

In the video, you mention that you have curricular units and software specially designed for teachers to build argumentation in their classroom. I would love to learn more about these tools. Is the curriculum and software something your Bridging team has developed? Or have you identified current curriculum and software that seems to align with what you are trying to teach the teachers?
Nice video by the way, your project seems very interesting, and I agree that argumentation needs to be further developed in the classroom!

This is fascinating! What impact does the PD have on students’ mathematical understanding? Have this been documented?

we are currently collecting pre-post data on the amount and kind of argumentation that occurs in each class as well as doing pre-post interviews with a subset of students to understand their ability to make arguments and what new content they have learned. In prior work, we have found that teachers in the program support significantly more argumentation than teachers in a control group.

How many teachers participated in the project? Can you explain a bit more how the PD was structured (how often, follow-up supports, etc.)?

we currently have about 30 teachers in one district, though the model can handle more. PD timing: 4 days in the summer, then 4 hrs every school month. The PD is arranged as successive approximations of practice, building up from experiences with targeted teaching moves (we call them teaching games) to improvisational performances of 10 minutes or so of whole class argumentation

you can read more about our model at
www.sri.com/blog/professional-development-progr...

Thank you Jennifer for sharing your work! Im wondering how you perhaps had to deal with the tensions that we often have in the classroom between providing explicit instructions (around argumentation) and allowing students/teachers to grapple with new practices if any?

Teachers do experience this tension. We advise that giving advice about argumentation—like what a conjecture is—is a good idea. Then we help teachers develop and practice specific teaching moves that they can use to support students’ argumentation, in a more open ended way.