Analysis of Pre-service Teachers’ Virtual Number Talks Practice: Implications for the Preparation of Facilitating Mathematics Discussions

Efforts within mathematics teacher education have recognized and attended to the importance of developing pre-service teachers’ skills for leading mathematical discussions. Number Talks have been utilized in teacher preparation programs to create opportunities to practice discussion facilitation moves. A virtual Number Talk field experience was enacted to provide pre-service teachers the experience of facilitating Number Talks while navigating technology. Two purposefully selected pre-service teachers’ experiences conducting virtual Number Talks were analyzed using a formative assessment that decomposed the discussion practice. As a mode of using research to inform teacher educator practice, results of the analysis provide implications for assisting pre-service teachers in orchestrating productive mathematics discussions using technology in order to move from critical dissonance to resonant harmony in praxis.