Developing Our Teaching Praxis Using a Japanese Lesson Study Model Applied to Corequisite Mathematics

In 2003, the Texas State Legislature enacted the Texas Success Initiative (TSI). Upon entering a postsecondary institution, non-exempt students are tested using the TSI Assessment. A student's scores are used to assist Texas public institutions of higher education in determining if students are prepared for introductory college coursework in the areas of English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) and mathematics. At many Texas universities, including Texas State University (TXST), students are placed in either a stand-alone for-credit college mathematics class or in a college corequisite sequence based on their Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) to be deemed college-ready. Since 2017, an increasing influx of students has led to both new lecturers and additional graduate students being assigned to teach these classes. This "Promising Practice" article describes the implementation of a Japanese lesson study model by three doctoral teaching assistants at TXST with the dual goals of improving their own teaching practices and creating more engaging and relevant lessons for a non-STEM mathematics corequisite class.