Pandemics, PSTS, and Pedagogy: Future Proofing ITE Mathematics Education

Abstract

This short paper reports on changes to two compulsory mathematics education courses for pre-service teachers (PSTs) that were modified as a response to the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. The modification required that all elements of the course – lectures, workshops, and tutorials were to be offered fully online. Our findings indicate three main themes arose during course delivery; lecturer presence via video during lectures; modifying content delivery formats to facilitate online lectures, workshops, and tutorials; and, ensuring “access to concrete mathematics materials”. Based on end of semester feedback, we were successful in maintaining lecturer presence and the modified delivery methods met student needs; however, we are still iterating in our attempts to incorporate concrete materials in our online pedagogy.