Teachers’ inquiry-based mathematics teaching
(IBMT) competence is often acquired and developed
through participation in professional development programs
(PDPs), but researchers have not established an
effective method of assessing teachers’ performance in this
area. Moreover, the definition of IBMT, and the relationship
between teachers’ mathematics inquiry knowledge
and practice, both remain unclear. Therefore, this study
first proposes a sophisticated definition of mathematics
inquiry-based teaching, and goes on to use this definition as
the basis of a systematic, integrated method for assessing
teachers’ knowledge and practice of such teaching. Changes
in four case teachers’ knowledge and practice of IBMT
during their participation in a 1-year PDP in Taiwan are
reported and analyzed. The data sources included classroom
observations as well as interviews and teachers’
concept maps. Data were analyzed using an analytic
framework of concept-map structure; essential constructs
of knowledge regarding mathematics inquiry; and an analytic
framework of inquiry-based teaching practice. The
research revealed (1) that all four case teachers made
positive progress in both their knowledge of mathematics
inquiry and their related teaching practices; (2) that the two
sets of gains described in point (1) above did not appear to
have any causal relationship; and (3) that although all four
teachers’ knowledge and practices were found to have
changed, radical changes in their teaching practices were
still rare in the short term.

EB00000002162K

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• Analyzing Changes in Four Teachers’ Knowledge and Practice of Inquiry-Based Mathematics Teaching