Jieting Jerry Xin

Talking productively with students and sufficiently integrating technology into mathematics classrooms have long been regarded as two hurdles for mathematics teachers. To enhance preservice mathematics teachers’ dialogic teaching skills and integration of GeoGebra-scaffolded dynamic visualizations, this study proposed and examined the effectiveness of a video-based professional development (PD) approach supported by a digital platform called Classroom Discourse Analyzer. Adopting the QUAL-quan method, one preservice teacher was selected as a representative case. The results showed that the PD approach effectively improved the preservice teacher’s declarative knowledge and teaching practice of using lower-order talk moves. The preservice teacher’s self-awareness and self-reflection on dialogic teaching informed her future practices. Furthermore, the preservice teacher was able to integrate GeoGebra-scaffolded dynamic visualizations into the instructions with different pedagogical decisions, reflecting how she reacted to student errors and the affordances and constraints of dynamic visualizations. This study suggests that the theoretically robust PD approach can serve as pioneering work in simultaneously promoting dialogic teaching and GeoGebra-scaffolded dynamic visualizations among preservice mathematics teachers. It also demonstrates the potential of integrating digital technologies to design hybrid PD programs to enhance preservice teachers’ self-reflection and facilitate improvement in their future teaching practices.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools have shown great potential for assisting teachers in their teaching routines. However, there is an urgent need for more empirical research to investigate the implementation and effectiveness of these tools. This study aimed to explore how teachers in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context perceived and used a generative AI-based tool, ChatPDF, to develop materials for reading lessons. Data were collected from three EFL teachers’ dialogues with ChatPDF, artefacts (including original and finalized materials), and individual semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to analyse the dialogues with ChatPDF through the lens of pedagogical content knowledge. The interviews were analysed thematically, and the artefacts were used for triangulation. The findings show that the teachers mainly used ChatPDF for text modification, task design, and pedagogical suggestions. The teachers relied on their knowledge of pedagogy, knowledge of students, and teacher language awareness during the process of developing language-learning materials with ChatPDF. The findings revealed a ‘D-R-E-A-M’ pattern of teachers’ use of ChatPDF for materials development (determine the needs, render the prompts, evaluate the suggestions, adjust the prompts if necessary, and make the final decision). The teachers acknowledged several advantages and limitations of using ChatPDF to develop materials. The results of this study have pedagogical implications for EFL teachers regarding how to make better use of generative AI tools for materials development, as well as for teacher educators regarding what to include in teacher professional development programmes in the era of generative AI.

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