Abstract
We conducted design research of lesson studies at an elementary school in successive three years. We changed ways of how to let teachers reflect upon sixth graders learning of combinations in mathematics. In the first phase of research (Year 2011), we used conceptual diagrams to visualize learning processes of each member in each group of a class, and a retrospective test of pupils’ learning outcomes that were conducted a month later in order to share the importance of dialogue based on the evidence. It took time to prepare the both supports above, and so we conducted lesson studies directly after the lesson and two months after that. In the second phase (Year 2012), we asked teachers to record and analyze ongoing activities of pupils in the lesson collaboratively, which increased the workload of analysis on the spot but reduced the total load afterwards. It is because we prepared viewpoints of observation induced by the results of Year 2011. In the third phase (Year 2013), we replicated the activities of Year 2012 and added predicting activity of each pupil’s result in a retrospective test. In sum, as research proceeded, we introduced more “predictive” activities for teachers by building upon results of lesson studies of previous years. These predictive features of the lesson studies made it easier for teachers to tie their observation on the spot with learning outcomes of pupils and to reflect on the learning mechanisms between learning processes and outcomes.
