Forty-five Chinese lessons were video-taped, which were from five1 of the six teachers with nine lessons for each.
These lessons were taped within 3 weeks. In each week, three consecutive lessons were videotaped. Fifteen U.S. lessons
were video-taped, with three from the first teacher, five from the second teacher, five from the third teacher, and two
from the fourth teacher. The taping was completed within 1 or 2 weeks. For both the Chinese and U.S. classes, lessons
taped during a given week were consecutive lessons. All video-taped lessons were transcribed and each lesson was
coded and analyzed along several dimensions, including an analysis of instructional tasks and classroom discourse
using a scheme modified from Stein et al. (1996) and Hiebert and Wearne (1993). (Instructional tasks are problems or
exercises that were presented and solved by teachers and students in the classroom.)