Evaluation of a Hybrid Mathematics Methods Course for Novice Teachers

This paper reports the evaluation of a hybrid mathematics methods course for novice teachers. During a fifteen-week semester, participants met face-to-face for approximately 60% of the semester and took advantage of an online format for the other 40% of the semester. Online activities included asynchronous discussion board postings, synchronous chats as an entire class, synchronous chats in small groups, evaluation of technology tools, and electronic surveys. The researcher used participants’ feedback to evaluate the effectiveness of this hybrid format. In addition, the researcher reflected upon his own experiences as instructor to inform future course structure decisions. Within the context of the Rich Environments for Active Learning (REAL) framework, results suggest that cooperative support was a key component of the effectiveness of the experience. Further, participants emphasized one particular generative learning activity as an effective component of this course. Finally, this paper discusses implications for mathematics professional development facilitators.