Assessing Maths Lesson planning among Chinese Pre-Service Teachers Through Comparative Judgment

Dr Wenping Zhang, Assistant Professor

Abstract

Recognised as a fundamental teaching competence, lesson planning quality is crucial for preservice teachers. This study aimed to develop and explore a robust method for assessing the lesson plans of 33 Chinese preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs), using the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) framework. Participants submitted a mind map of lesson planning in general, and a written lesson plan on the topic of algebraic expressions, which were evaluated by 11 expert teachers using a Comparative Judgement (CJ) approach, supplemented by feedback collected via a questionnaire. Preliminary findings indicate a key imbalance: PSMTs demonstrated greater strength in Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) compared to their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). The higher-performing lesson plans, however, showed distinct evidence of more sophisticated pedagogical reasoning, particularly in the Knowledge of Content and Curriculum (KCC) subdomain. The study's results provide actionable suggestions from expert teachers for PSMTs' future development.

Bio

I am a Visiting Scholar at Durham University and an Assistant Professor at Hangzhou Normal University. My research takes an international and comparative perspective on mathematics education, focusing on China and the UK. I study students’ metacognitive performance, classroom teaching, and preservice teachers’ lesson planning, contributing to research on mathematics teacher education and professional development.