Principle-based design: Development of adaptive mathematics teaching practices and beliefs in a knowledge building environment

This study investigated teacher-education students' development of adaptive mathematics teaching practices and beliefs in an online knowledge building environment under principle-based design guidance. Participants were students who took a university course titled Middle-School Mathematics Teaching over a year. Data analyses focused on (a) students' collaborative lesson design activities as documented in an online database, (b) students' video-taped teaching practices, and (c) students' mathematical beliefs using a survey. Correspondingly, the results indicate that the principle-based design guidance (a) was conducive in promoting reflective and collaborative knowledge work in the online community, (b) was likely to motivate the participants to progressively practice more adaptive teaching, and (c) facilitated their development towards more constructivist-oriented mathematical beliefs.