Promoting Conceptual Understanding Through Authentic Mathematics Instruction in Virtual Environments

Abstract

Delivering effective online instruction to preservice teacher candidates is important to ensure teachers are prepared for K–12 classrooms. Formal education has been reimagined several times throughout history, with both K–12 and higher education settings seeing significant changes in recent decades. Additionally, elementary teachers and preservice teacher candidates often view mathematics as only facts and procedures for memorization—a belief that infiltrates their instructional practices. Colleges that prepare teacher candidates must respond to this misconception. This chapter explores strategies one online university used to help preservice teacher candidates maximize student success by implementing live webinars called Put It into Practice (PiiP). During these sessions, preservice teachers explore online tools that can be used in the K–12 classroom to conceptualize math concepts. The webinars challenge preservice teachers to analyze how to teach math in today's classroom, while modeling the key prerequisite of establishing a safe psychological environment conducive to learning.