The promise of approximations to enhance teacher learning is exciting, yet their design and implementation require careful consideration. In the AAAS ARISE blog "A Practical Approximation for Math Teacher Education," Jason Trumble builds on the previous post from Bondurant and Howell (2025), where they defined and examined approximations in alignment with the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) framework (Schoenfeld, 2023). An approximation is a structured, scaled-down version of a teaching practice that allows teacher candidates to try and practice specific skills in a low-risk, supportive environment before applying them in real classroom settings (Schutz et al., 2018).
In this post, Trumble collaborates with two students, Taylor McFelson and De'Jon (DJ) James, who participated in an approximation he created for a classroom assessment class aimed at middle and secondary teachers. First, he describes the elements of effective approximations and introduce the TRU framework. Next, he provides a brief overview of the approximation itself; then, his co-authors share their experiences engaging in the approximation and describe how their experience aligns with the TRU framework.
Read the full blog post.
References
Bondurant, L., & Howell, H. (2025, March) Conceptualizations of effective approximations of practice. AAAS-ARISE Blog. https://aaas-arise.org/2025/03/18/conceptualizations-of-effective-approximations-of-practice/
Schutz, K. M., Grossman, P., & Shaughnessy, M. (2018). Approximations of practice in teacher education. In P. Grossman (Ed.), Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education (57-83). Harvard Education Press.
Schoenfeld, A. (2023). Ways to help students become powerful mathematical thinkers. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 116(11), 888-889. https://doi.org/10.5951/MTLT.2023.0221