Prediction Assessments: Using Video-Based Predictions to Assess Prospective Teachers’ Knowledge of Students’ Mathematical Thinking

Source: Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, Volume 14, Issue 4, pp 305-325. (August 2011).

In this article, the authors have designed a new assessment instrument in order to evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental elementary mathematics field experience course.

These video-based prediction assessments engage prospective teachers in a video analysis of a child solving mathematical tasks.
The prospective teachers build a model of that child’s mathematics and then use that model to predict how the child will respond to a subsequent task.

Results from implementation indicate moderate to high degrees of inter-rater reliability in using the rubric to assess prospective teachers’ models and predictions.
The findings also indicate strong correlation between participation in the experimental course and prospective teachers’ performances on the video-based prediction assessments.

Such findings suggest that prediction assessments effectively evaluate the pedagogical content knowledge that authors are seeking to foster among the prospective teachers.