Instructional activities in tertiary mathematics courses: What (and From Which Component) do prospective secondary teachers report as beneficial

Research demonstrates that prospective secondary teachers benefit from connections from their advanced tertiary mathematics courses to secondary teaching practice. Less is known, however, about the instructional factors that prospective secondary teachers themselves see as beneficial to their future teaching. To address this gap, we report prospective secondary teachers’ self-reported benefits—in terms of confidence and value—as well as the features of instructional activity that the teachers attribute to these benefits. We draw on survey responses of 70 prospective secondary teachers enrolled in tertiary mathematics courses for teachers using MODULE(S 2 ) materials in one of four content areas. Participants of this study were part of a larger pool of 192 prospective secondary teachers who completed surveys on their perception of instructional practices used in their tertiary course. Through a cultural-historical activity theory lens, findings suggest that simulations of practice and opportunities for class discussion were key activities and mediating factors reported by participants for the benefits gained from their tertiary courses.