Overview
Dr. Merit Deri, a lecturer in mathematics education at Orot College, teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses.
The undergraduate program primarily operates online, with a significant portion of instruction delivered through Zoom sessions.
In the "Teaching Geometry" course, Dr. Deri organized a Zoom session with 27 students.
The session aimed to engage students in a multifaceted learning experience, focusing on both content mastery and pedagogical reflection.
The Breakout rooms session divided the students into four groups of 7 students each, during an hour (i.e., students spent 60 minutes in the Breakout Rooms).
The problem presented to the students:
Instructions included both personal assignments, and group assignments:
- Read the task and solve it individually.
- Discuss the different solution methods among yourselves.
- What are the differences between the proposed solution methods? Discuss these differences.
- What mathematical knowledge is required to solve the question?
- What difficulties might arise while solving the question?
- What misconceptions might emerge with this question?
- What scaffolding can be provided for struggling students?
- For which age groups is the question appropriate? What can be done to adapt it to different age groups? For additional student levels?
The Challenge
During training sessions, fostering meaningful and deep learning requires the instructor to monitor each group's discussion in real-time, with the following responsibilities:
- Make sure the group understands the instructions and making progress
- Identify lack of collaboration among the participants, off-topic conversations or inappropriate tone
- Evaluate the pedagogical quality of the interaction, and the compliance of the participants to the instructions
Solution: Using Togeder’s Breakout Rooms Dashboard
Togeder provided both high-level overview and deep insight into how each group performed, by surfacing:
- The mathematical strategies students used (e.g., midpoints, medians, area ratios).
- The pedagogical thinking and scaffolding ideas proposed for helping future students.
- Adaptations discussed for students at different cognitive levels or age groups.
- Collaborative and instructional quality of each group, including engagement, focus, and ability to follow instructions.
These insight enabled the instructor to:
- Compare the quality of pedagogical thinking across groups
- Identify which students needed more support
- Reflect on and improve future course design
- Provide personalized feedback based on actual group performance
Conclusion
This case demonstrates how Togeder allowed Dr. Deri to gain deep visibility into student collaboration in real-time, something that is typically hidden in online learning environments. By capturing and analyzing each group’s problem-solving strategies, pedagogical thinking, and level of engagement, Togeder helped surface meaningful insights that informed instruction, highlighted student needs, and supported more effective, differentiated teaching.